Voyage of Something
by racheyroo
Summary: Two best friends embark on the journey of a lifetime full of everything they love. Multiple crossover including, LotR, Harry Potter, Narnia, 24, Torchwood, Heroes & much more
1. gandalf tap dances

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters, locations etc (even though I would very much like to own a couple of them!) This story is for entertainment purposes only!

**Reviews: **Please review & offer constructive criticism only. I do not appreciate people bad mouthing me or my work for their own enjoyment

* * *

*gandalf tap dances*

It was mid-afternoon on the day their journey started. They stumbled across a bar by the name of Edmund's which prompted them to enter. The atmosphere was tense, the air was thick with smoke and in the corner stood a piano. A familiar tune was being played by a man who looked rather odd.

"That man over there." Marieke said with a puzzled frown. "He isn't playing what I think he's playing...is he?"

"It sounds like it.." Rachey replied, leaning further towards the piano in an attempt to hear better. "Do you think we should move closer?"

Before they could investigate further, a man answering his phone with a song diverted their attention away from the man at the piano. "Tell me quickly what's the story. Who saw what and why and where."

Marieke turned around quickly. "What is that?" Standing only a few metres away was a man in a long coat holding his phone to his ear, listening to some report. He didn't really fit in the bar, looked rather like someone out of a history book.

Rachey turned to look at what her friend was looking at. "I know that man from somewhere." She exclaimed. :But I can't think of his name."

Marieke shook her head. "I know what you mean..." Trying not to look too obvious, she moved a bit closer to the man. He seemed to be very angry with whoever he was talking to, almost shouting: 'I am the law and the law is not to be mocked!'

"Don't get too close." Rachey warned, worried about just how angry this man was becoming.

Marieke backed down a bit and looked at her friend, "Do you think he's a cop or something?"

"I'm inclined to say yes." She nodded, still looking at the man. "But he sounds foreign and have you seen what he's wearing?"

"I know! It looks like he's stepped out of a costume drama or something. He sounds...French!"

"But the way he's singing instead of speaking..." Rachey's voice trailed off as she got lost in her thoughts.

"You're thinking musical?" Marieke grinned. "But then...could it be?"

"We're thinking the same aren't we? Javert from Les Mis?"

Marieke nodded in agreement. "But it can't be! He's a fictional character! But then again..." She glanced at the piano. "What is this place?!" She laughed nervously.

"Whatever this place is, it's kinda freaking me out." Rachey grabbed hold of Marieke's hand. "Maybe we should go?"

"Yes, maybe we should. Anyway, we'll be late for the show if we don't hurry."

They carefully, slowly backed out of the bar and breathed a sigh of relief. They crossed the road and walked in the direction of The Adelphi, expecting to see Joseph. Upon entering the auditorium they noticed a single spotlight shining down on the stage. They had been told when they collected their tickets that they were expecting a full house. However, the only other person in the room was a man with dark curly hair wearing The Technicoloured Dreamcoat.

A rather jolly tune was played, Gandalf descended onto the stage and began to tap dance. He was pretty good and clever, being creative with his beard! They looked around and saw that the 60s inspired coat wearing guy had vanished and there was a slight chill in the air-which made them feel slightly uncomfortable. Gandalf carried on with his interesting mix of tap dancing and beard weaving until he jumped on the cherry picker and flew into the air. Taking this as a sigh the 'show' was over they began to clap but froze when they heard the sound of faint clapping, coming from the dress circle.

And ten there was another sound, asthmatic breathing, coming from the seat behind them. Turning around they came face to face with the piano player. He'd followed them into The Adelphi from Edmund's bar, yet they hadn't noticed him He began to hum the theme to 'Star Trek" when amidst a fog of light and smoke another man appeared. So the rumours we true, there was a phantom in The Adelphi.

"I'm The Phantom of The Adelphi/Theatre where Gandalf tap dances. But please, call me Mark!" he held out his hand to the girls as he introduced himself. The cloaked and hooded piano player changed his tune and a hummed version of 'Phantom of the Opera' echoed around the theatre. Suddenly, Mark jumped into air, grabbed hold of the chandelier and began to swing back and forth whilst singing 'Music of the Night'. This upset Gandalf, the theatre became dark and gloomy (much worse that Edmund's bar) and he recited something in Elvish.

Marieke and Rachey decided that this was a bit too weird-even for them-and left the theatre. After all, they still had the singing phone call to investigate! They hurried down The Strand, in the direction of Trafalgar Square, as the thought Javert would be there as it is a historical testament to a battle. But as they walked pat Charing Cross Station, something caught their eyes. The Strand Station had magically appeared.

Rachey stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh My God! Is that the Strand Station? Like THE Strand Station? Am I seeing things?" She ran towards the entrance.

Marieke shook her head confusedly. "What? But that's impossible! I mean, I've always wanted to see it but, I thought..." Her voiced trailed off and she ran to her friend standing at the entrance. "Do you think it can take us to Narnia?" She whispered/

"I don't know." Rachey managed to whisper as a silent tear fell down her cheek.

Marieke put her arm around her, even though she was shaking too. "Do you want to go in?" She quietly asked. Then attempting a smile. "Who knows, they may need some new Queens of Narnia."

A flicker of a smile slashed across Rachey's face. "Yes." She nodded. "Let's do it!" Holding on tightly to each others hands they ran in, down some stairs and stood on the platform, waiting for the next train. They could hear a faint rumbling and a sudden whoosh of air hit them. They held on tightly and held their breath. The train appeared but didn't stop. As it rushed past them they caught a glimpse of a beautiful blue sky through the windows and just like the film, the tunnel became a cave-a cave into Narnia.


	2. 4 narnians & 1 random renegade telmarine

*4 narnians & 1 random renegade telmarine*

Still a bit disorientated Marieke walked towards the light. She knew what awaited them, or maybe it's better to say she hoped. So far that night had been amazing and absolutely crazy at the same time and she didn't know what to expect next. "This is it, isn't it?" She asked nervously as she stepped into the light.

"Looks like it." Rachey replied, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunshine. :Is this real?" She asked, falling into step besides her friend. "We really have come to Narnia haven't we?" She was beginning to doubt everything she had ever believed in.

"I think so. I mean, it must be." Marieke stared at the beach. "It looks exactly the same." Knowing she'd keep doubting it if she didn't try to believe, she took of her shoes and walked into the sea. Bending down she let the water wash through her hands. Then grinning. She scooped some into her hands and took aim at her friend.

"Oi!" Rachey giggled as droplets of water landed on her bare arms. She took off her shoes and waded into the sea. This playful water fight carried on for 5 minutes and the only sound was their laughter. They stopped, walked onto the beach and lay on the sand, drying off in the brilliant sunshine. Without warning Marieke jumped to her feet and ran along the sand towards the cliffs. Rachey immediately followed. Neither of them needed to speak, they knew the story, the order of events.

It was strange walking there, in a place so familiar to them, yet neither had been there before. The ruins were there. The ruins of Cair Paravel, where once the great Kings and Queens of Narnia lived. Again she couldn't believe ow this could be anything but a dream-but she was determined to enjoy it, even if it was. She began to climb the cliffs, knowing Rachey was right behind her, until the ruins came into sight. It was so surreal. They were both thinking the same; it looked like the 4 Pevensie's could show up at any time.

Butterflies were fluttering around in Rachey's stomach as she looked upon the ruins of a beloved place. Eagerly they wandered here and there, searching every nook and cranny. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the apple trees that were growing amongst the stone walls of the once great castle. It was truly magical. A wooden door, slightly hidden from view caught her eye. Slowly, cautiously she walked over...a lions face was carved onto the doorknob. "Marieke?" She called, trembling as she searched for a way to enter.

Marieke looked up when she heard her friend calling and ran over when she saw what she was looking at. "Oh wow!" She breathed, looking at the door in awe. "Do you suppose we can go in?"

"I dunno." Rachey shrugged. "I want to. Do you? Shall we?"

Marieke nodded. "Now we're here, I'd love to see it." She looked at the door and tried the latch. It opened with surprising ease and somehow she felt reassured by the fact they didn't have to break it down. Looking closer at the door she realised that it looked newer than the one she remembered. She opened the door wider & saw the stairs down to the treasure room. She trembled and waited a moment before entering.

Rachey followed and shivered slightly. Not from cold, but something else. There was a silent whisper about the air. She stood next to Marieke and held her hand. "Where's Edmund and his torch?" She asked, grinning to herself in the dimly lit room. "I can barely see the steps."

"We definitely could use one now. Maybe one of us could rip up their shirt?" She grinned. "As long as we don't go running down, we should be ok." She looked up to see a faint light in the distance and felt a shiver of anticipation. "Looks like someone lit a torch there. At least in the treasury we should be able to see something."

Rachey giggled softly. "We can't even be sensible here can we?" She asked. "Come on, I'll go down ahead of you. Stay close."

"Sensible? What's that?" Snorted Marieke. Then the situation and surroundings got the better of her and she quietly followed Rachey down the stairs. They climbed until they reached a viewing platform. Rachey leant over the edge and took a deep breath as she studied the 4 treasure chests. She tore her eyes away and climbed further down, the light growing brighter with each step. Finally they reached the bottom. Marieke stood next to her friend, amazed by the sight of the chests-almost within touching distance. The torchlight was reflected by the gold on the chests, golden sparks and shadows seemed to dance across the walls. Further towards the chests they walked and stood in awe at what was in front of them. Rachey grinned at her friend and ran over to Edmund's chest. Marieke tutted and rolled her eyes before walking across to Susan's. "I should've guessed." She muttered, but grinning at Rachey's enthusiasm. She ran her hands across the lid of the chests, unsure if she wanted to open it or not. It kind of felt like an invasion of privacy but she decided that a quick glimpse would be ok. Then something, a noise caused her to freeze; footsteps. For a second that seemed like eternity she stared at the opposite wall, not daring to look. Taking a deep breath she turned around.

Rachey caught her friends eyes, but was unable to move. The footsteps grew louder. Then a voice shouted out in the dark. "Stop what you are doing!" It sounded familiar to the girls.

Marieke risked a glance at Rachey, then looked at the boy entering the room. Her heart was stuck in her throat and she couldn't really breathe. Even if they'd imagined them being there, seeing them so close.... She inclined her head and greeted him, not really knowing what else to do. "High King Peter."

Rachey's heartbeat quickened as she fumbled a curtsey. "High King Peter." She felt sick. 3 more people-a boy and 2 girls-entered the room. She glanced at Marieke, then back at them and back to her friend before deciding to edge her was towards her. 4 pairs of eyes watched every step. Marieke's mouth went dry as she looked at the other King and the Queens. Trying not to look too nervous she greeted them all. Lucy smiled briefly, gave her some encouragement, but the stern look on Peter's face made her feel sick. Rachey stood next to her and they instinctively held hands. Standing together as least gave them some comfort.

They stood like that, in silence, for a while, just looking at each other. Peter broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"

Rachey stared at he floor and mumbled. "We don't know. We came here through the cave. Just like you did."

"Pardon me?" Susan asked, stepping forward and lowering her bow. Rachey plucked up the courage to look. She had a haughty look on her face but, her eyes were smiling. And she repeated what she had said previously.

"Just like we did?" Edmund repeated, sounding a bit confused.

"How did you know we came here through a cave?" Susan added. Marieke looked questioningly at Rachey. We they couldn't exactly tell them they'd seen it in a film-could they?

Rachey's heart began to race as she searched for an answer. How on earth were they going to explain this? "I...um...we...um." She stammered. She stole a glance at the Pevensie's-bemused expressions on their aces but no anger.

"It...well..." Marieke opened her mouth and closed it again. "We...um...read about it." It sounded a bit lame, even in her head but, if they didn't consider the Narnia books as fiction and it had really happened-it was only about 60 years ago. So maybe...it was history?

"You read about it?" Asked Lucy. "How? When? Where?"

Rachey glanced at her friend, looking puzzled. Marieke jerked her head as if to say "go along with it." "Errr...yeah. You know, like in a book-at school. All your adventures are written down." Rachey continued with gusto. "That's how we knew."

"Sounds quite unbelievable." Peter exclaimed, turning round to his siblings. "However," he continued, "I believe you."

"Narnian time." Marieke grinned, suddenly feeling very relieved. "I guess no one will ever really understand how it works."

After a moment Peter returned her grin. "So you're...from the future?"

Marieke nodded. "Yep! Mind you, we can't tell you anything about it, we could alter the past doing that. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey and stuff like that." She added under her breath. When she saw Peter looking strangely at her (and the others for that matter) she cleared her throat. "Anyway...I'm Marieke." She looked at Rachey.

"And I'm Rachey." She managed to say through her giggles. "And don't worry, we know who you all are!" She grinned at them all as Pater stepped forward and shook their hands.

Marieke struggled with not giggling. All the nerves and just being there...she wanted to bounce around the room! "So errm..." She started, before Peter interrupted her.

"Look, why don't we go outside? I'm sure it's much nicer to be in the open air that to stand talking here. We came down here to get some stuff but, we can do that later."

"We have apples!" Lucy added. Marieke looked at Rachey and grinned, apples sounded good!

They climbed the stars, easier this time thanks to Edmund and his torch. The warmth of the suns rays hit them as they stepped outside, no one had realised just how chilly it had been in the treasure room. Lucy led them towards what would have been the throne room. "Caspian!" She yelled as she ran into a young man's arms.

Marieke felt like her heart had stopped mid-beat. She grabbed Rachey's arm and tried to speak but, couldn't form any words except "Rachey!!!"

Rachey turned to her, in utter disbelief. "Do you think that maybe our imagination runs TOO wild?" She asked. "This is all too perfect. It can't possibly be real."

"Marieke? Rachey?" Peter called them over. They walked, Marieke still clutching her friends arm. "This is King Caspian. Though I assume you knew that already!" he smiled.

"It can't be..." Marieke agreed whispering when Caspian looked confused at Peter.

"Knew that? How?"

"I'll explain later." Peter answered. Then turning to the girls. "Well? Did you read about him?"

"King Caspian the Tenth, yes we certainly did. Loads and loads." Marieke couldn't keep her eyes off Caspian but, she just rambled on. "The noble contradiction right?!" Immediately she shut her mouth, couldn't believe what she had just said. She felt her cheeks flush with red and muttered something about how nice it was to meet him, when all she really wanted to do was to hide behind her friend.


	3. the following events

*the following events occur outside the government; beyond the police*

"Noble contradiction?" Caspian began. "No one but my professor and I know about that."

"It's a bit too complicated to explain right now. Rachey replied. "We don't have them time. We have to go."

"But...you've only just got here!" Chirped Lucy.

"I know. If we can come back, we will and I promise we'll explain."

"But..." Edmund began. Marieke looked at him when he didn't finish his sentence. After a while he continued. "Not many people come to Narnia. You being here must mean something other that a short visit to say hello?"

The two friends looked at each other. Marieke shrugged. "I guess it does but, like Rachey said, we'll come back if we can! It's just, well, there's something we have to settle first. I'm not sure how or why exactly myself, but I'm sure that if we're meant to be here, we'll be back." She didn't tell them how they knew that they had to go. She figured that didn't see him or the would've commented on it but, Rachey & herself had heard the humming-the humming of the 'Torchwood' theme tune. And also they could see his shadow. By now they knew that his presence meant change, though what kind of change-they didn't know.

"But, I don't understand." wailed Lucy."Neither do we exactly." Rachey answered, feeling more and more uncomfortable due to the presence of the cloaked man. "We really have to go. I'm sorry."

And they ran. Back down the cliffs, along the beach and into the cave. "I hope this works." She wondered aloud. And then in the blink of an eye they were back standing on a station platform. But not the Strand Station. They knew this from the writing on the wall. Instead it said: Cardiff Station.

"Cardiff?!" Marieke exclaimed. "How on earth did we get to Cardiff? And why?" She looked around hoping that something inside the station might give them some some clue but, it didn't look very different. No weevils, no TARDIS, no creepy statues of angels. It was just a normal station except for the lack of people. By now they had no idea what time it was or what day for that matte but, they at least expected there to be someone else. It was eerie, so quiet. Shivering uneasily, they walked out of the station.

"You know, I'm beginning to feel like everything is connected.: Rachey began A blank expression was her friends response. "This is a jigsaw. It's all connected. To us."

"What do you mean?" asked Marieke. But before Rachey could answer the were almost knocked over by a man in a long grey coat. When he was sure neither of them were hurt he held out his hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness. How do you do?"

"You've got to be kidding me." murmured Marieke in reply.

"What the..." Rachey began. "Well this just confirms it!"

"Sorry?" Jack asked, looking bewildered.

Rachey shook her head. "Sorry. Nothing." She looked around at their surroundings.

"Listen, I'm looking for someone. Two people to be precise." He scanned the crowd of people that had emerged from nowhere. "Do you happen to know of someone called Marieke or Rachey?"

Marieke rolled her eyes. "Yes, that would be us." She answered after a moment. She didn't sound too enthusiastic as there was just too many strange things happening.

He looked up. "Oh really? Good, you need to come with me then." There was a small part of Marieke that wanted to protest; ask why on earth they should go with him but, even with all the strangeness-it was Torchwood. And most of all, it was Captain Jack. She didn't seriously consider refusing!

"Ok!" And grinning a bit more enthusiastically. "Why not?!" They followed him towards a large building.

"It's official. This is totally meant to be." Rachey said. "Think about it; Les Mis, Lord of the Rings, Narnia and now Torchwood!" She counted them off on her hand as she spoke. "What will it be next?"

"I'm afraid to answer." Marieke turned to her friend and laughed. "It might come true! And whilst we're here...I would like to visit Torchwood first." They turned to face Jack and realised he'd been looking quizzically at them. Now he just lifted an eyebrow and smiled a crooked smile.

"Come on then, before you're too late." He took them to the bay and the Roald Dahl Plaza. They could see the Millennium Centre and Marieke couldn't help but grin. Again, it felt so strange to be walking there. Of course it wasn't as...exotic as Narnia but, it was still so amazing. Only at the very last moment did the notice that Jack had stopped dead on one of the floor tiles in front of the water tower. Almost bumping into him, Marieke looked up. "Come stand next to me." He motioned. They followed his directions and once they were in place he put his arms around their shoulders and they felt the tile begin to move. At the same time Marieke's heart began to beat faster. If it was the excitement of a new adventure or Jack standing so close, she didn't know. Probably both!

When they first saw the inside of the hub, they were amazed by the size of it. They knew it was big of course but, this was huge! Any place that host a pterodactyl must be but they still felt overwhelmed by it all. Then something else made them even more excited. Waiting for them were Ianto and Gwen. Gwen appeared to be looking something up on a computer; Ianto was just standing there. Waiting to welcome Jack back or something. Marieke firmly pushed all the fanfic she'd read to an unreachable corner of her mind, desperate to not blurt out something stupid like she had done in Narnia. When they reached the floor Jack and Ianto shared a look. But what was silently said- no one else knew.

However, Ianto glanced at them and smiled. "Of course." He took Jack's coat and disappeared, whilst Jack showed the girls the way to the conference room.

"You will have understood by now that some things are happening that are...let's say, not quite according to the normal order of things." They both nodded. "There appears to be some sort of distortion between fiction and reality." Jack continued. Marieke wanted to ask him if he meant fictional characters coming to life. But decided that it might be a bit inconsiderate to ask a fictional character. "We don't know what's causing it yet but, the first signs showed themselves in London a couple of days ago."

"Oh really?" Marieke fought to keep her voice neutral. "Do you know where exactly?"

"no, not yet. But one of our agents is looking into that now." Jack used his wrist strap to contact Ianto and they heard him ask something about another agent called jack. Confused, Marieke looked at Rachey. They didn't know of another Jack within Torchwood. Who could it be? He looked up at the girls again, he saw the rather confused look across their faces and again he smiled a quizzical smile. What did he know that he wasn't telling them? "So anyway, like I said, we're not really sure yet. But our readings show that a lot of fictive energy was centred around The Strand. Last night some of that energy became manifest. We received a number of calls reporting sightings of people in strange clothing, talking animals, tap dancing wizards. But when we scanned the area we also noticed that whilst most of the people in the West End that night only saw glimpses of what was happening, two of them actually functioned as a gateway from the real world to the fictional world. To be precise, you two did." He noticed their blank stares and explained. "Most people wouldn't recognise things alien or magic if it tap danced in front of them. And some people would see something slightly out of the ordinary. But very seldom do we meet people who see everything and even participate in it. People don't travel to Narnia on a regular basis."

Rachey raised her eyebrows, looking enquiringly at him. "How did you know?"

"We've been making scans of the area for some days now. So when two people mysteriously disappear we...investigate." His wrist strap beeped and jack listened to an almost inaudible-to the girls at least-report from Ianto. He smiled. "Talking about investigation, come, Jack will be reporting back any minute. You might want to be there."

They followed Jack back to the hub where they heard a familiar sound. The sound of a TARDIS appearing. Jack smiled. "Here he comes." They stared disbelieving at him. By now their beliefs were sufficiently shaken and it would of course be possible that the Doctor was helping Torchwood out this one time but, that wasn't the main problem. Marieke was hoping, no she was praying, that the Doctor's real name wasn't Jack. Fortunately that turned out to not be the case. They arrived just in time to see the TARDIS materialising and nervously, they held their breath as the door opened. But whatever it was that they had expected, this was probably the least. By far. Looking like he always used a TARDIS whilst fighting terrorists, Jack Bauer came walking out off the blue box. Marieke knew she must've looked like an idiot gaping at him but, she couldn't help herself. Stealing a glance at Rachey she was relieved to know that she wasn't the only one.

When Jack and Jack (this was going to be confusing) came towards them, they put up an effort to look normal. They weren't sure if it was working but, Marieke smiled at him when Jack (the Torchwood one) introduced him. CTU Jack didn't seem surprised by them being there but, with the other Jack telling them that they had them under investigation, that wasn't really surprising either. Rachey suddenly wondered if the T in CTU didn't secretly mean Torchwood-instead of terrorist. Walking back to the conference room, this time accompanied but the entire Torchwood team, CTU Jack began his report.

He told them about some random manifestations of fictionary characters-superheroes protecting the London public, Disney princesses talking (sometimes singing) to animals and robots riding through the streets.

"This was never meant to happen." Jack (the handsome captain one) muttered. "The walls between the worlds are crumbling down. It's much worse than ever before."

"You mean there are actually worlds where these things are real?" Marieke blurted out.

"And this has happened before?" Rachey added. Both Jacks looked at the girls.

"Well of course. You've visited Narnia, how real was it? Where do you think C. got his inspiration from? Definitely not in Cambridge!" Jack (CTU) answered. "We closely monitor traffic between these worlds. Most people think stories like that only exist in the mind of the author, and of course they do but, that doesn't mean it's any less real."

Walls crumbling down or not, they liked the sound of it! Grinning, they listened to what else Jack had to report.

"I spoke to Tom before coming here. He says that the breach isn't on his side of London. There are strange things happening there too but the origin of the problem isn't magic. At least not magic as they know it." Rachey and Marieke looked at each other, frowning. Were they talking about who they thought they were talking about?? Jack continued. "They'll have people on watch though, the alleys are closely guarded and the same goes for the school and other magical communities. Tom told me they even have someone on watch on Charing Cross Road. Probably a wise move, you can never be too careful."

Marieke was certain now that her hunch was correct and she knew she should've expected it. Still, she wanted to be sure so she asked. "Tom would be...?"

Ianto answered. "Tom would be the barman of the Leaky Cauldron." Rachey sighed heavily and rubbed her temples.

"What's the matter?" Gwen asked across the table.

"Is this going to end?" Rachey answered. "I mean, how many more fictional characters are going to be involved in this?" She added sarcastically. She heard Marieke take a sharp intake of breath. "Look, I don't mean to cause any offence to nay of you. I highly respect you all. I'm just tired. I don't know what day it is. What time it is. Or even if this is just a random dream." She was beginning to get very emotional.

"Maybe we should continue this discussion once you've had some food and rest?" Gwen said, understanding how she felt.

"But this can't wait!" Jack (CTU) shouted.

"No it can't," The other Jack agreed. "The longer we leave this situation as it is, well, who knows what could happen."

"What? The world is gonna collapse? LET IT!" She yelled, standing up and banging her fist on the table. "I just want to go home."

"You don't understand." Torchwood Jack said gently. "If we don't put a stop to this, there wont be a home left to go to."

Marieke looked at him, not wanting to believe what he had just said. "How can fiction threaten reality?"

"When fiction is taking over, reality is breaking down." Ianto explained. And not only that, can you imagine what would happen if everything you've ever read or seen in a film comes to life?" She nodded slowly. There was certainly books/films that, however much they loved reading or watching, they didn't want to experience for real.

"That's why we have to stop this." CTU Jack finished.

The two girls looked at each other for a while, silently trying to guess what the other was thinking. Then slowly, they both nodded. "Tell us how."


	4. nitwit, oddment, blubber & tweak

*nitwit, oddment, blubber & tweak*

"From all the intelligence we have gathered, we believe that it's down to the choices you make along your journey." Captain Jack Harkness answered. "Where this journey will lead you, I cannot be sure but please remember this: you will always have our resources at your disposal."

"We will be with you every step of the way." Ianto added.

"But where do we begin?" Rachey asked.

"Go to the Leaky Cauldron." Jack Bauer answered as he stood up. "Tom is already waiting for you."

"How can you have a TARDIS and not know where this journey will go?" Marieke exclaimed. "Surely you're able to travel to the future and find out?"

"Yes we do, yes we can and yes we have." Jack (Torchwood) began. "But you've seen the programme right?" The girls nodded. "Then you are aware that we cannot tell you anything about what we have seen. The worlds are in too fragile a state as it is."

"You pretty much told Peter the same thing in Narnia." Rachey laughed.

Marieke shrugged. "Yes, I suppose...not even a hint then?"

He smiled. "Go to the Leaky Cauldron and start from there." He stood up and motioned for them to follow him.

They walked into his office and he picked up a broken necklace that was lying on the desk. He looked at it for a moment before handing it to them. "Here, hold this."

The two friends took hold of one end each as Marieke spoke. "It's a Portkey isn't it?"

"Yes, it's set to transport you to the bar in..." he checked his pocket watch. "5, 4, 3, 2..."

They didn't hear his last words but felt a jerking sensation from somewhere behind their navels and the world blurred. When they could see clearly again, they found they were in a familiar area. Charing Cross Road. It was daytime and crowded, although most people didn't see them. And they saw something that hadn't noticed before; between a large bookshop (one Marieke had spent a fair few hours inside, the last couple of times she'd been in London) and a record shop, was a small inn. The sign outside was faded but they didn't need to read it to know where they were. For a second Marieke hesitated, feeling the excitement of a new place to discover. Then she grinned at her friend and opened the door.

It was exactly the same as in the films they'd seen apart from the cloaked man at the bar drinking Firewhiskey. Not unusual given the place but he was humming 'Hedwig's Theme.' "Is he going to be everywhere we go?" Rachey asked, rolling her eyes.

Marieke couldn't help but copy the gesture. "I guess so." She listened to the song. "At least he doesn't stick to the "Imperial March'! That would get boring!" She laughed as they walked up to the bar, taking car not to get to the cloaked man who they now knew was Darth Vadar.

Tom came to greet them but he didn't say anything about Jack. Instead he asked if they wanted a drink.

Marieke didn't hesitate. "A butterbeer?"

"And for me?" Rachey added. He nodded and disappeared behind the bar.

"Do you think he knows who we are?" Marieke asked her friend, uncertainty in her voice.

"Doesn't look like it. Maybe we should show him the Portkey?" Marieke nodded at her friends suggestion. Tom handed them their drinks and asked for payment. Instead of handing him money (well they didn't have any of the strange coins that were used here) Rachey slid the necklace across the bar to him.

"Very well." He smiled a toothy smile. "Follow me." The girls each took a sip of their drinks before standing up. It tasted a bit dusty but, so good. A glowing sensation spread through their bodies and for the first time they realised just how thirsty they were. Darth Vadar didn't look up as they passed him and followed Tom out of the inn. He led them to the brick wall-they knew-which was the entrance to Diagon Alley. "Wait here." He said before shuffling back inside.

Rachey glanced at Marieke, a huge grin plastered across her face. "Wonder who we'll meet next?" Before an answer could be given, Tom returned. But he was not alone. Walking behind him was Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

"Cool." Marieke muttered, trying to guess not exactly where but rather when they were. Ron and Hermione looked around their age, so she thought it might be past book 7. In a way she was glad, she didn't really feel like stumbling across Voldemort on their travels.

They walked up to the girls and grinned. "Hi! You two must be Rachey and Marieke? We were told you were coming."

They nodded. "who told you?"

Hermione answered. "Tom did. He didn't tell us exactly why though." She looked at them enquiringly.

Ron just shrugged. "We don't want to know if you can't tell." Hermione shot him a look and the girls couldn't help by grin.

Marieke spoke. "Auror training? Anyway, I think for now it's better if we just see where this leads us. Not that we don't want to tell you but, apparently things are confusing and unstable enough as it is. If we start telling the whole world what we're doing, it wont improve things."

Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Tom says we should trust you. So that's enough for us." Ron answered for both of them. He walked to the wall and tapped his wand 3 times on one of the bricks. He stepped back and an archway opened up.

"Eeee!" Rachey squealed, the fangirl inside her taking over. "I've always wanted to see Diagon Alley."

Ran gave her a quizzical 'you're a freak!' look as Hermione asked. "Always? Now I'm confused. I know you don't want to say too much just yet but I am intrigued by you. How do you know about Diagon Alley?" The 2 friends stared at each other, no knowing what to say. "If you're witches, you'd already have come here."

Marieke hesitated. "Let's say that we know of the magical world but, aren't part of it. There are things happening now that affect the magical world and the no-magical world. We need people on both sides to help solve it." At least she was hoping that was the plan. The girls watched Hermione to see how she would react.

After a while she nodded. "It still doesn't completely make sense but, I'm sure it's possible." She didn't sound entirely convinced but it was enough for Marieke and Rachey. To be honest, they were more interested in Diagon Alley!

They walked towards Gringotts Bank in silence. They were just taking in all the sights. Flourish and Blotts, Eyelops, Olivanders. Rachey wanted to rush in and buy a wand. Marieke saw her friend gazing at the shop and knew they were thinking the same thing. Flourish and Blotts was tempting enough but Olivanders... They carried on walking past the shops, in the direction on Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. As they passed Quality Quidditch Supplies, Marieke again wanted to go in and buy something-a broom, any broom! She would've settled for a Cleansweep 1 if it could just fly! Rachey grinned at her. It was all so amazing, surreal and fun. And then a rainbow of psychedelic colours hit them, "are we going in there?"

"Yes, I figured we could use some sort of HQ, unless you'd rather wander around a bit?" Hermione smiled.

"No," Marieke answered her smile, "sounds like a good plan." Then looking at the window with all it's multicoulouredness, "I wouldn't mind having a look either." Ron laughed and opened the door. There were some customers in there, looking at the array of tricks and jokes spread out over the shelves.

The woman at the counter welcomed Ron as "Mr Weasley" and Hermione as "Mrs Granger." She only smiled at the girls. It crossed Marieke's mind that she could be Verity but, she hadn't paid enough attention to Ron's reply. Instead she was looking around, amazed. Something cute caught her eye; apparently the Pygmy Puffs were still a hit.

"So that's what they look like," Rachey laughed, "I always wondered!"

"Come with us," Ron smiled. The girls followed them through the door to the storeroom, past shelves and shelves of extra stock and up some stairs to a tiny kitchen. Where, much to their surprise, they were greeted by the Weasley twins.

For a moment, they just froze. Seeing Fred there wouldn't have been the strangest thing to have happened to them over the past few days but, it just felt wrong. Marieke blinked, then realised what it was they had seen. Only George was there in the room, what appeared to be Fred had merely been his reflection. He too looked older but not in the same way as Hermione and Ron. He looked sad, even when he greeted them.

Marieke and Rachey smiled cautiously back. Even they had felt the wrench of Fred's death. And it was only a story to them...until now.

George whispered something to Ron and Hermione and they went back downstairs. Then he turned back to the girls, "Jack and Jack-I love saying that! They have filled me in on everything."

For a moment no one knew what to say so they just stood there gaping at him. Then Marieke giggled, more because of nerves than anything else, "it does have a certain poetic charm."

George motioned for them to sit down, "do you want something to drink? Tea?"

"Tea would be good thanks," Rachey replied, sitting down," so, errm...what's the plan?" she added nervously.

He didn't bother pretending to make the tea. He conjured to cups onto the table and tea poured out of the air as if there was an invisible teapot, "I didn't just magic it you know," he said when he saw the rather confused looks. "Food is the first..."

"Of the five exceptions to Gamp's law of Elemental Transfiguration," Marieke finished.

"So anyway, the plan," George continued when the tea was drunk, "well our primary objective, of course, is finding out who's behind this and stopping him or her. But to do so, we first have to establish the places where the real world and the world of fiction meet. We suspect that there might be a pattern to it, something all these places have in common, If possible we'll have to close those gateways between the worlds but, we're fairly certain that doing it now is useless. Our evil mastermind will only open them again."

"Something they all have in common? Could it be..." Rachey began.

"Go on. Tell us your theory," George smiled at her.

She continued, "this has been puzzling me since this craziness began. Could this, is this, about us?"

"It is possible," George nodded, "how and why though, we don't know."

"Well then, we'd better find out."


	5. a collision of dark dreams

*a collision of dark dreams*

They talked possibilities for a while but were unable to come up with any answers. George suggested that they may find some clues in Knockturn Alley. So after finishing their 3rd cup of tea they made their way downstairs and into the shop where Ron and Hermione joined them. After saying a brief goodbye to Verity they stepped out onto Diagon Alley, then turning left they made their way to Knockturn Alley. George, Ron and Hermione walked a few steps ahead, heads bent as if in conversation.

Rachey turned to Marieke, "I wonder if it's as dangerous down there as we've been led to believe?"

"I hope not," Marieke muttered in reply.

"Ron, overhearing, turned to them, "a lot had changed since the Battle of Hogwarts but, it's still a place most of us avoid if we can." Somehow that wasn't really comforting yet, they were still interested in seeing it for themselves.

As they reached the entrance to the Alley, there was a change, Atmosphere, temperature, scenery. Where Diagon Alley had been warm and inviting, Knockturn Alley was cold, dark and uninviting. But Rachey wasn't scared, in fact, she didn't really feel anything at all.

"it's so...cold," shivered Marieke, "I can imagine people don't come here if they can avoid it."

Hermione nodded, "we've been trying to do something about it for a while now bust so far the department of Magical Law Enforcement have failed to get a foothold here."

"I don't expect they ever will, "George countered, "in a way, Knockturn Alley serves a purpose."

"Flesh-eating slug repellent?" Marieke guessed, half joking.

"Amongst others," George added with a lopsided grin.

They looked around at the assorted shops and the people in the Alley, "so where do we start?"

"Borgin and Burkes of course," answered Ron.

"Of course," Rachey giggled softly, "should've known it'd be there!" George, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and shook their heads.

They reached the shop and entered, a man with long blonde hair was talking with the owner. The girls looked around, taking an interest, at all the items on display. They recognised a shrivelled hand as a Hand of Glory and behind the counter stood a broken cabinet. Was it a Vanishing Cabinet? Then they turned their attention to the man at the counter.

"Malfoy," George greeted him with a short nod. Lucius Malfoy had grown old but he didn't look as arrogant as they had always imagined him to be but, he still snarled when he saw them. He wasn't in a position to threaten the Weasley's any more but it was clear there was no love lost between the families.

"Weasley," he returned the greeting, "a bit out of your district aren't you?" Ron glared at him but Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, silently asking him to let George do the talking.

"We're here to get some information," he told Lucius coolly.

"Information? What information can you get from here?" Then noticing Marieke and Rachey hiding in the background, "oh, are you starting up Dumbledore's Army again?"

"No," answered George, "what makes you think we are?"

"Your friends."

"Our friends are of no concern to you Malfoy." Marieke and Rachey looked at each other, wondering where this was headed.

"What then? What do you need me for?" Their eyes locked and for a a moment Marieke feared they were going to duel.

Then George sighed, "I'm not here to fight Lucius. There's been enough of that just recently." Lucius frowned, still waiting for an explanation.

Marieke cleared her throat and her looked at her. She wondered what is was she wanted to say. We're here to stop a potential disaster from happening? That sounded stupid and how was she to be sure that he would help? "We need to know...we need to know..." she faltered.

Something in Rachey told her that he should know. Compassion? After taking a deep breath she spoke, "we're here because there has been a breech between, the only word for it is, worlds." Lucius looked puzzled. She glanced at George, his expression told her she was doing the right thing.

"Worlds?" he asked.

"Yes, worlds. This world, the world you exist in, it's fictional."

"It seems real enough," he said, pure sarcasm in his voice.

Marieke spoke, "it's fictional for us. In our world the story of Harry Potter," -he grimaced- "is just a story. Well, it was," she added as an afterthought.

"And so it shall be again," George continued. Ron and Hermione were now looking a bit confused, clearly wondering how much he hadn't told them. "The borders between the worlds should be closed, only to be crossed by dreamers from time to time."

"So id this is true," Lucius began.

"It is," Rachey butted in.

Lucius glared at her, "as I was saying, if this it true, why come here?"

George answered," because I have received intelligence," -Lucius laughed- "that there may be a clue somewhere in this shop."

At this point the owner interrupted. He'd been eyeing Hermione with some degree of anxiety since they arrived, probably due to her work at the ministry, "if you don't mind ladies, gentlemen, you're free to have a look around."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled at him

They walked around the shop, the stars of our tale were drinking it all in. It wasn't like they'd imagined, it was brighter, less dusty. George and Ron barely took their eyes of Lucius and vice versa. "Didn't Harry tell anyone what Narcissa did for him?" Rachey whispered to Marieke.

"I'm sure he did," she whispered back, "but I guess that the Malfoy's and the Weasley's being on speaking terms is as much of a miracle as we could hope for. Too much has happened between them." She stole a glance at Hermione, wondering if they should as her about it but thought the better of it. She probably didn't have the fondest of memories of the Malfoy's either, even if she did look ok now. She looked back at Lucius, "for all he's said, he's still standing there. He may not exactly be helping us but..." she blinked and shook her head.

For a split second she thought she'd seen someone else in his place but, when she looked again, it was still Lucius standing there. Surely if it had been magic someone would have realised? "Did you see that?" she asked her friend.

"See what?" Rachey asked, clearly confused.

"I thought, he, it..." she stammered, "it looked like he changed into someone else just now." She continued staring at him, "I mean it was him, and it wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

Before Marieke could give an answer, a cry of glee from the opposite side of the shop turned their attention back to why they were in the shop in the first place, "girls, come here," George cried, "I think I've found it."

"Found what?" asked Rachey, walking over to where he was stood.

"This painting, it's unusual," said Hermione.

"Painting?" Lucius' ears pricked up.

Soon there was a group of 6 people huddled in a corner, a large paining of a ship in front of them. "What makes it unusual?" asked Ron

"For a start, it doesn't move," came George's sarcastic reply.

"I can see that. Apart from that?"

"It's not from this world, is it?" Hermione asked, looking at Marieke and Rachey.

"Are you still going on about that?" snarled Lucius.

Ignoring his comment, Rachey spoke, "you're right, it isn't. And I think I know what it means."

Marieke nodded, "yep, I've seen, or rather read about, this before."

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

The friends shared a look and Marieke spoke, "it's a Narnian ship. It's the Dawn Treader."

"And Narnia is one of the worlds?" Ron wanted to know.

"Yeah it is," Marieke looked at the painting and felt a strange sense of longing, "back to Narnia it is then."

"And how do you suppose you do that then?" Lucius snarled, "jump inside the picture?"

Marieke wondered for a moment how to answer, then decided there was only one possible answer, "well no, not exactly...we should get...drawn into it?" She looked at Rachey imploringly, "is there something we could do otherwise?" They stood silently in front of the painting for a while.

Then George answered the question, "you could go to Jack and Jack for help. They might have a better solution, because this..."

"Is clearly nothing more than a painting," Lucius finished sarcastically.

Ron glared at him but George just shrugged, "maybe it was never supposed to be the exact same painting as the one you read about," he smiled softly at the travellers, "but merely a clue, the clue you were meant to find here."

Hermione seemed to think over his words for a while, then asked, "so you think they have to go back another way?" he nodded in reply.

"Back to muggle London first?" asked Rachey.

"No, there's a shorter way." At these words Lucius looked more closely at George.

Hermione also pricked up her ears, "what do you mean?"

"We can transport them from here," he stared at the painting for a minute or two, "not to Narnia thought – I wouldn't know where to start. But it shouldn't be at all tricky to send them on their way to Jack and Jack." Hermione looked shocked and muttered something about an illegal Portkey. George ignored her and turned to Rachey and Marieke, "what do you say?"

"Sounds good," grinned Marieke, "although I wouldn't mind having to fly those either," she added, indicating a couple of broomsticks.

George chuckled appreciatively, "you've been to Narnia once before. What's stopping you from coming back here and giving it a go?" The girls grinned at each other.

"Right, well, where do we start?" asked Ron.

"Back to my shop I think." George began, "it's probably safer there."

"Safer? What's safety got to do with it?" asked Rachey, looking extremely puzzled.

"I'm not sure if this will go to plan and I'll feel more comfortable if we do it in the safety of my flat."

"George is right," said Hermione, "come on, let's go."

it didn't take them long to reach the shop. Lucius followed them outside but didn't stay on their trail for long. Stealing some glances at them he walked back into Knockturn Alley. "I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him yet," Marieke muttered.

Hermione looked up, "I agree but, we can't do anything about it now."

George walked up to Verity upon entering the shop and told her something about closing the shop early, "we don't want any unwelcome visitors."

"Yes Mr Weasley," she nodded and went on to usher people out of the shop, whilst George led the others to his rooms.

"Right then, let's get this over with," he looked aver at Hermione, "I may need some help, will you stand by me?"

Forgetting all she had said about illegal Portkeys, she nodded, "of course."

"Ron?" asked George. After his brother nodded in reply, her turned to the girls, "come on you two, step back a bit."

Rachey and Marieke made room, both curious and a bit worried about what would happen next. They had read about Dumbledore making an illegal Portkey but, Dumbledore had also been an exceptional wizard. They didn't think this was going to be easy. Ron took the painting of the Dawn Treader out of his pocket. Marieke grinned, she hadn't seen him take it. George accepted it, then whispered something to Hermione. As if on cue, they bother raised their wands and cried out in unison, "Portus!" The painting glowed bright blue then the light flowing from the two wands slowly changed the colour. The bright blue became lighter and lighter till there was only a pale blue aura surrounding the painting. The five of them stood silently for a while, Hermione and George feeding the aura of the painting with more light. The, suddenly, the light flared and went out. Hermione swayed a little and Ron dashed forwards to support her.

George nodded, "I think we did it."

"You think?" Rachey arched an eyebrow and George smiled a tired smile.

"Yes, it should be ok."

Marieke and Rachey looked at each other and grinned, "when can we use it?"

Still holding Ron's hand, Hermione answered, "right now if you want. We didn't put a time restriction on it."

"The sooner the information goes to Jack and Jack – the better," George added, "don't worry though, you're welcome to come back any time."

"Right then..." Marieke hesitated as she walked up to the Portkey. Now wanting to say goodbye just yet, she smiled, "see you soon!" Then she grabbed Rachey's hand, took hold of the Portkey and they both felt the same, no almost familiar, sensation of something pulling the forward. As the room spun around them, Rachey caught a glimpse of someone standing in the doorway. Lucius, but somehow not Lucius.


	6. with friends, fauns & feasting

*with friends, fauns & feasting*

"Woah!" someone yelled, "are you alright?"

Marieke groaned and opened her eyes. A throbbing headache made her feel like throwing up, "what happened?" she whispered. Adjusting her eyes to the bright light she saw someone bending over her. It was Jack, the Torchwood one, "ah, it worked."

"Errm, yes, it did. Sort of!" he helped her to her feet, whilst Jack Bauer did the same for Rachey.

Ianto came forward holding out a pair of green pills and a glass of water for each of the travellers. Marieke eyed the pill suspiciously & Ianto, catching her stare, spoke, "don't worry, it's not Retcon." He smiled at her, "it's just something to help you with the pain."

After that both of them quickly took the pill. Though she still felt a bit nauseous, Marieke breathed a sigh of relief when the pain subsided, "what is this and where can I get it?" she grinned.

"Alas, fiction," Jack Harkness winked, "and it's probably not wise to take them on a regular basis anyway." Before one of the girls could ask, Gwen walked in and announced that the conference room was ready. The two Jacks kept close to the girls and guided them, there, "just to make sure you're ok," he said after an enquiring glance. Rachey looked at Marieke and rolled her eyes, sparking off a giggling fit.

"Right then," CTU Jack started when they were all seated, "what did you find out?"

Speaking in turns, Rachey and Marieke told them what had happened in Diagon and Knockturn Alley. The Jacks nodded several times, only interrupting once or twice with a question.

"So, this painting..." Torchwood Jack began when they told them what they had found in the shop. Ianto had taken it from Marieke's hands when she was unconscious and now placed it on the table.

"Are you sure it's Narnian?" the other Jack asked. When the girls protested that they'd recognise a Narnian ship when they saw one, he smiled, "well then. I guess it's back to Narnia for you two."

The girls grinned and Rachey spoke, "how are we getting there?"

Jack Bauer looked at them, "I'll walk with you to the train station. The gateway between here and Narnia is still open."

"That reminds me, "began Rachey, "how come the cave in Narnia is linked to two places?"

Ianto stepped in at this point, "that's our doing. Continuing our work on the Rift manipulator, we were able to extend it's forcefield to the fictional worlds. Normally, once you're in Narnia, the cave is just a cave. It's only a one way portal. We altered that, linking it to Cardiff Station, to get you here. We haven't closed the connection yet because we felt it might be useful to keep it open a bit longer."

"That kinda makes sense," Marieke said with a puzzled frown.

"Don't worry about the ins and outs of it all," Gwen said with a reassuring smile.

"Oh, ok."

"Are you two ready?" Jack (the CTU one) asked. They looked at each other, then back to the group and nodded.

"Good. Is there anything you need?" They looked at each other again.

"A torch might be useful," grinned Marieke.

"How about some Elven rope?" asked Rachey, "that would be handy. Samwise Gamgee says to never go without."

Jack Bauer looked up at this and smiled, "sure! We can manage that, or something close anyway."

"And take this," the other Jack said. He gave them both a necklace with a sort of crystal pendant on it. "Alien technology. It'll be a means to get in touch with either of us if you need to. Also, it looks quite pretty."

"How does it work?" Marieke asked, holding the pendant in her hand – it felt strangely warm.

"Just hold it like that, with your hand closed around the pendant and say the name of the person you want to talk to. If they have one as well, they can hear you."

"So do you..."

"No, but we've been working on a programme to receive the transmissions. The technology isn't flawless yet, but you can get in touch with both CTU and Torchwood this way."

"Cool!" Rachey grinned.

"Found some rope, not quite Elven, but it does the job," CTU Jack said as he walked back in the room, "now, any more demands?" Silence. Both girls were thinking. "Good. Now come on, time you were back in Narnia."

After saying short goodbyes to Jack and the rest of the Torchwood crew, Marieke and Rachey followed Jack Bauer out of the building. Silently they walked across the bay, towards the station. When the station came into sight, Jack lingered for a moment, "one more thing before you go. Tell the Pevensie's and Caspian what's happening. They need to know, it may prove useful in the future." The friends nodded. Jack smiled, "right then, this is where I leave you. You know the way, don't you?" They nodded again and began to walk down the stairs into the station. "And don't forget to check in, any time!" he called out as he watched them disappear. Marieke and Rachey grinned at each other.

"I'm so happy we're going back, "Rachey smiled, "there's a lot more of Narnia I want to see."

"Me too," answered Marieke as they neared the platform they'd arrived on, "hey, where do you think they'll be?"

"Cair Paravel? It's where we left them."

"Yeah, but you know all about Narnian time – who knows what could have happened there in the few hours we've been away." Before Rachey had a chance to reply a familiar rumbling sound and a whoosh of air was heard and felt – the train had arrived.

It didn't stop, but glided along to disappear into nothing right in front of the girls. Bit by bit the entire station evaporated around them and although the sight was almost familiar by now, it was still breathtaking. They smelled the sea, heard the seagulls and they both felt a rush of excitement.

Back on the beach however, they noticed things had changed, like Marieke had foreseen. Ships commandeered the horizon, against the background of a setting sun. Some children were playing in the sand under the watchful eye of their elders. All in all Narnia seemed by far a livelier and happier place. Then something else caught their eyes and took their breath away. Looking at the cliffs, the friends saw the most magnificent sight. Where once the ruins of Cair Paravel had stood, now stood an entire castle. Cair Paravel rebuilt.

It was more than a castle, it was a palace. The high towers looked out proudly over the beach, whilst the hall and the main part of the palace were built from marble, like white stone, that made it look both elegant and fairytale-like and like it would last forever. It was a building fit for a king. No, make that kings and queens. It also looked like Cair Paravel was preparing for a feast. The golden light of the setting sun danced across the white walls, as banners in various colours were playing in the wind. On the highest tower the Narnian flag flew in all it's glory, a golden lion set against a red background. Looking closer at the other banners, Rachey and Marieke grinned. They'd told them exactly what they wanted to know – the Kings and Queens of Narnia were holding court at Cair Paravel.

They looked at each other in disbelievement. What should they do, was they question spoken silently between them. They carried on staring at the splendour that stood before them. A slight nod of Rachey's head was all that was needed for them to begin climbing the cliffs. Up and up the winding path they went, all the time different smells of food being cooked wafted into their noses, getting stronger as they neared the palace. As they turned a corner, a familiar sight stood before them, the Pevensie's and Caspian were relaxing in the last of the late evening sun.

Susan turned around and saw them, "Marieke! Rachey! You came back." Lucy also turned around, positively beaming. The two travellers felt a wave of happiness rush through them, they were amongst friends.

"We said we'd come back if we could," Marieke smiled, "and so, here we are!"

"Yeah, we missed you guys. Besides we have some information to pass on to you." Rachey added

"Information?" asked Caspian as he stood up.

"Yes," Rachey smiled, "something that could change your world as you know it."

"Our world? Our world isn't your world?" Peter asked.

"Duh, hadn't we already figured that out?" Edmund replied sarcastically.

"Errrrrm…yeah but, you know…" he faltered.

"Know what? I can't read your mind Pete."

"I was kinda hoping that what we thought wasn't true," Peter said as he faced his siblings. Everyone in the courtyard stared at him. He cleared his throat and continued, "I don't like the idea of us being fiction."

"Before you say anything else, I think you should listen to what we have to say," Marieke said calmly.

"We don't have time," interrupted Susan, "we have to get ready for the ball. Let's talk after."

"If you'd prefer it that way, that's fine. But, I must request we talk immediately after. What we have to say really does affect you," added Rachey. They nodded to indicate that they were ok with that and before anything else could be said Susan and Lucy caught hold of Marieke and Rachey's hands and led (or in Lucy's case, dragged) them along.

"Come on!" the youngest Queen shouted exuberantly.

"Come on where?" Marieke asked, a bit confused.

"Why the ball of course, silly!" Lucy flashed a bright smile and Susan too seemed excited about the evening's prospects.

"There are plenty of dresses around here, so we'll make sure you have something nice to wear,"Susan said, while guiding them to her chambers. She led them through the grounds, through the castle, wings and narrow hallways, up stairs, and through many doors until, finally, they reached the royal wing. Somewhere along the way they lost track of where exactly they were going, and with some relief they found themselves facing a nicely carved door in one of wings, where Susan took out her key. "Come in."

Without waiting for the others, Lucy darted in first and while she bounced on the bed, Susan told one of the servant girls to fetch the royal dressmaker.

Only a few moments later an elderly woman returned, followed by the same servant girl who carried a number of different dresses in various colours. Marieke's eyes immediately fell on a silk midnight blue dress with jewel encrusted shoulder straps and smiling a bit hesitantly at the dressmaker – who nodded encouragingly – she took it and held it in front of her. "It's a bit wide," the woman commented, "but we can do something about that. Why don't you try it on?" At the same time Rachey pulled out another dress, black satin with a peach coloured hem and bow. The dressmaker smiled, "good choice."

With the help of two servants, the dressmaker set to work with altering the dresses, pinning, sewing and adjusting them where it was needed. After what seemed a lifetime to Rachey and Marieke, the dressmaker nodded for them to try the dresses on again. They fitted like a glove and with only the tiniest hint of self-consciousness the girls twisted and danced across the room, while Lucy and Susan cheered them on. The dressmaker smiled, halted the girls to adjust the last little bits and bobs and spoke, "now, my work is done. Mary here will help you with your hair whilst I get Queen Susan and Queen Lucy dressed."

It took another 30 minutes for the girls to be ready to join in with the celebrations. Marieke's hair tumbled over her shoulders in tousled curls whilst Rachey's had been twisted up into a tight bun studded with tiny diamonds.

A knock at the door made the 4 young women in the room jump, Susan spoke, "yes? Come in."

A footman pushed open the door, bowed towards the Queens and spoke in a slow, steady manner, "my Queens. And guests of honour" - he bowed towards the travellers - "I'm here to escort you to the ballroom."

Marieke and Rachey smiled at each other nervously whilst Susan and Lucy walked towards the door. "Come on you two, don't be shy. Everyone here will love you," smiled Susan. Marieke and Rachey grabbed hold of each other and walked out of the door.

They took a clearer, shorter path down towards the ballroom, unlike earlier when Susan had led them up (to avoid being seen, she'd said). Lucy was barely able to control her excitement as they neared the entrance hall. Waiting for them, wearing suits made of velvet, Caspian, Peter & Edmund smiled as they walked down the grand staircase. Peter took Susan's arm, Edmund took Lucy's and Caspian walked purposefully towards Marieke and Rachey, "tonight, you two will accompany me," he beamed. Before either girls had time to collect their thoughts, the large carved wooden doors opened and the guests applauded.

Rachey's eyes scanned the crowd as they walked down the makeshift aisle between tables. What was she looking for? A few familiar faces stood out, Glenstorm, Reepicheep, Trumpkin and more. But it was the dark haired man, lurking in the shadows with Darth Vadar that caught her eyes. She thought she'd seen him before, certainly not in Narnia but, maybe in another film. All these characters moving around wasn't something new so, it wouldn't be surprising if there was a crossover here.

Marieke nudged her in the ribs, "look to your left. Isn't that Suzy?"

Rachey turned her head away from the man in the shadows and what she saw next made her smile the brightest smile she'd smiled for a long time. Suzy, probably the only person that would ever understand what was happening, was standing in the crowd. Suzy waved at the friends and grinned. The Pevensie's and the travellers reached the high table and sat down while Caspian gave a quick speech to their guests. After he sat, there was much applause and the food, wine, chatter and dancing could begin.

Rachey slipped away from the table and headed over to where Darth Vadar was standing. As she approached the shadows, Vadar hummed something that sounded very much like that bit in 'Heroes' with the eclipse. It was then that she realised who the dark haired man was. But he didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. Where had he gone?

Marieke had watched as her friend slipped into the shadows, followed the dark haired man and could see that there was a strange look upon her face. Puzzlement? Disappointment? Maybe, most likely, both!

Rachey took a deep breath and spoke to Vadar, "where has that man gone?"

Vadar turned slowly to face her, "he will return shortly. Wait here." And he walked away.

Rachey's heart rate quickened, her head spun and she found she was unable to move. There was a presence around her that was stopping her. Almost like a forcefield. Then she felt a hand pressed on her chest yet she could see no one. The hand pushed, she fought against it, it pushed again and she tipped backwards. Before she hit the floor someone caught her. She looked up at the person that had saved her and smiled.

"Sylar?" was all she managed to say before her eyes closed.


	7. a hero awakens

*a hero awakens*

Rachey rolled over and groaned as sunlight hit her eyes. She blinked and opened her eyes further to find herself lying in a huge four poster bed. A noise from the corner of the room made her turn her head, Marieke was pouring water from a large porcelain jug into a matching bowl. "Marieke?" Rachey called groggily.

Marieke rushed across the room to be by her friends side, "you're awake?"

"Of course I'm awake silly, I'm talking to you ain't I?!" Rachey grinned.

"Of course! Sorry, that was a silly thing to say."

"What happened to me?"

"We don't know hun. You just kinda fainted. Can you remember anything about last night?"

Rachey sat quietly for a moment or two, racking her brain in an attempt to remember. Everything was hazy, blurred, nothing made sense. She could see Jack Bauer stepping out of the TARDIS, Marieke clambering over the ruins of Cair Paravel, Hermione Granger standing by a painting with a blue light emitting from her wand and more. Surely these were all just dreams.

Marieke, noticing the puzzled look upon her friends face, spoke, "what's going on in there?"

"I'm not sure. Or maybe I am. I don't know, everything in my head is blurry. Where are we?"

"Narnia of course. Cair Paravel!" smiled Marieke.

Rachey sat bolt upright, 'we're in Narnia? Really?"

"Yup. Don't you remember?"

"Remember what? What am I supposed to remember? Why, or should I say how, are we in Narnia?"

"I need to get you back to Torchwood as soon as possible."

"Hang on, Torchwood?" exclaimed Rachey, sheer panic taking over her. "Marieke, what IS going on?"

"Ssshhhhh, don't ask any more questions. Rest. I'll be back in a minute or two." Marieke stood up and walked out of the room. Waiting outside were the Pevensie's, Caspian and Sylar.

"How is she?" asked Caspian in a low whisper.

"She has no memory or it seems to be that way. I don't know. I must contact one of the Jacks and get her back to Torchwood."

"I'll sit with her till you get back," Sylar spoke.

"But she doesn't know who you are." Peter replied.

"Nor does she know you you are. But I have the skills to help her."

"Well actually, she does know who they are. And I'm sure she knows who you are. Maybe seeing any of you would scare her. Send one of the servant girls in to sit with her." Marieke added.

"But I can help. I'm sure of it," Sylar argued back, 'besides, I was the last thing she saw before she fainted. Maybe that will jog her memory."

"Then how do we know that it wasn't you who did this to her," yelled Edmund.

"You'll just have to trust me."

At those words Marieke froze. She'd watched 'Heroes'. She knew about Sylar, what he was capable of. Yet he seemed genuinely concerned for Rachey. Ignoring the warnings in her head and the pleading looks from Peter and Edmund, Marieke stepped aside to allow Sylar to enter the room.

"What did you do that for?" cried Edmund.

"He says he can help her, we have to let him try." Marieke smiled hesitantly, "now, I must contact Torchwood." She pulled out the chain holding the crystal pendant from under her shirt, held it tight in the palm of her hand and spoke clearly, "Captain Jack Harkness – Torchwood." The crystal glowed green then faded. Captain Jack's face looked out at her. "Jack? I need your help. Rachey appears to have lost her memory. I'm bringing her to you as soon as I can. Have your medical team ready for us."

"What happened?"

"She fainted. We don't know why. She was alone. Or appeared to be alone."

"Have you had a chance to tell the Narnian's why you're there yet?"

"No. Should I do it now?"

"No. Our priority right now is to help Rachey. Without her, your quest could fail. Bring her back here. Also..."

"What is it Jack?"

"Tell King Caspian I would like to speak with him. He should accompany you here."

"Very well. See you soon Jack."

Marieke turned around to see 5 glum faces staring at her and beckoned Caspian to join her. The Pevensie's looked at her expectantly, and she gave them an apologetic smile.

"Why can't they hear what you have to say?" Caspian asked, when he and Marieke were out of earshot.

She grimaced. "I'm sorry. I can't explain right now. I know they're Kings and Queens of Narnia too but, at the moment, you're more important to us. And I need you to come with me."

Caspian looked a bit confused, "come with you? Where..."

"I'm sorry," Marieke repeated, "I can't explain. You'll just have to trust me. It's the thing we've been meaning to tell you, all of you. We honestly were going to give you all the details but, with Rachey... inconvenienced, we didn't, don't, have the time." She threw him a pleading look and added. "I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't necessary. Please?"

He glanced back over his shoulder to the Pevensie's, then nodded. "yes, ok, I'll come."

"Great, Jack will be pleased," Marieke smiled, "you'd better let them know that you're coming with us and I'll go get Rachey." Caspian nodded as Marieke pushed open the door to the bedroom Rachey was in.

Rachey was sitting up, her back resting on a couple of pillows. Sylar was sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand. They both turned to her when they heard the door click shut.

"How're you feeling?" asked Marieke with a tentative smile.

"Better," Rachey smiled, "hungry!"

Marieke laughed freely, "that sounds like Rachey! We'll get you some food when we go back to Torchwood."

"Torchwood?" Rachey eyes widened in fear, "you weren't joking earlier were you?" Marieke said nothing, just shook her head. "Ok, I can accept the fact that right now I'm lying in a bed in the fictional castle Cair Paravel, which is in the fictional land of Narnia, and Sylar from Heroes, which I might add IS a tv show, is holding my hand." Sylar quickly pulled his hand away. "But Torchwood...isn't that going a bit far?"

"I promise you, everything will be explained later. But right now you just have to trust me and come with me."

"And we're going to Torchwood right?" Rachey asked quietly.

"Yes," replied her friend, as she helped her out of the bed. "We're expected." Then she turned to Sylar, "do you mind leaving now?"

"Of course not, I'll wait outside with the others." Once he'd shut the door behind him, Marieke busied herself getting some clothes together for Rachey.

20 minutes later the girls were standing on the beach, Marieke saying goodbye to those that were staying behind. Caspian had explained to the Pevensie's that he was going with them and was already waiting at the entrance to the cave. Just as they were about to leave too, Sylar came running up to them.

Addressing Marieke he panted, "look, I've been thinking. I want to come."

"You can't," came the blunt reply.

Sylar stood his ground, "why not?"

"We don't know you and we don't trust you." When Rachey shot her a look Marieke amended, "I don't trust you."

"But what if I can help? I..." Sylar stopped himself from continuing and Marieke wondered what he was going to add. Something about his...unusual powers of mind?

Just as he was about to continue, Marieke cut him off with a gesture, "even if I wanted you to come, it's not my call. But if it makes you happy, I'll talk to those whose call it is. Don't get your hopes up though." Slightly annoyed she turned her back on Sylar and dragged Rachey along. With one look to Caspian the three walked into the cave.

For a moment the world blurred, then shifted. Closing her eyes in an attempt to not get motion sickness, Marieke could swear she heard someone humming a familiar tune. When she opened her eyes again, she, Rachey and Caspian were standing in the Hub, with Jack and Ianto in front of them and just behind them, the other Jack. Also there was an unexpected visitor, Javert.

Jack caught Marieke by the shoulder when she stumbled. "Sorry, I'm just a bit disorientated," she grinned. Then she looked at Rachey who looked a bit shell shocked, "are you ok?"

Rachey nodded and looked around at her surroundings with a mixture of wonder and fear. She still looked a bit pale though so CTU Jack guided her to a nearby chair.

Marieke did the necessary introductions, then looked questioningly from Captain Jack to Javert.

Jack immediately picked up on her signal, "I'll explain later. Right now we need to find out what happened to Rachey." Marieke nodded. "Ianto, Gwen," Jack turned to his colleagues, "will you help Rachey into my office where I will begin my examination?"

Gwen and Ianto guided Rachey to Jack's office, whilst Jack lingered for a moment. Marieke looked up, "will you be able to help her?"

He laid his hand on her shoulder and looked at her, "until we know what's causing it... I just don't know." He smiled briefly, reassuringly, "but I will do everything I can, as will we all." Marieke nodded and Jack let go of her shoulder. He shot a look at Caspian, "we need to talk later, for now I'll let Jack debrief both of you."

The young king nodded, "fine." Even though he was just taken out of his own world into new and completely strange surroundings, he seemed to be at ease and comfortable, but at the same time still conducted himself as a king. Then Jack turned and Marieke saw Caspian briefly look around him in a kind of amazement. The look of wonder on his face made her grin and helped her forget her worries for a while.

"Where Jack anyway?" she asked, "the other one I mean."

"I'm here," came a voice from across the Hub. Half-hidden behind one of the computers, Jack was busy typing, "there were some things I needed to check, have a look." The look on Caspian's face turned from amazement to confusion when he saw the computer screen.

"I'll explain later," Marieke whispered, while she stared at the words on the screen. It took her a moment to digest the information, and then she turned to Jack, "can this be? I mean, if this is true, it looks like worlds are crumbling down as we speak..."

"It appears so. We're waiting for confirmation, but you're right, things are moving at a faster rate than we had thought possible. And we still don't know why or who's behind it."

Caspian, through his confusing, had been reading the same message and came to stand next to Marieke, "what does that mean?"

"This is unlike any situation we have ever dealt with," answered Jack, "but as far as we can tell judging by our current Intel, it won't be long before this world, earth itself will become unstable. The universes were supposed to have stayed apart; this world was never meant to hold all this. Even if the borders of this world hold, there is no saying what will happen, how people will deal with all their dreams and nightmares coming true."

All the time while he was talking Javert had stood silently a few steps away. Slightly uncomfortable under his apparent scrutiny, Marieke pointed at him, "and what is he doing here?"

"Javert is working for us," Jack answered, not elaborating. The silence following this reply spoke more than words however. There was more to be said about the subject but not in front of Javert, or maybe not now.

Marieke nodded, "ok. So what's the plan now?"

"There isn't a plan. Not until we know what happened to Rachey and what we can do to fix it."

It was as if the others had heard it, because at that point Jack and Rachey came out of Jacks office. Rachey still wearing a mixture of wonder and fear on her face, Jack looking troubled but not too much. Marieke swiftly crossed the Hub to be with her friend, "and? Did you find something?"

Jack threw a concerned look at Rachey before speaking, "we found plenty." Marieke's brow furrowed. Jack continued, "using the most advanced technology we have here, I was able to search Rachey's brain for any clues that may lead us towards knowing why she is suffering from memory loss. The actual part of the brain that deals with memory hasn't been affected in any way." He paused, allowing the others to digest what they'd just heard.

"But what does that mean?" cried Marieke, "what are you saying?"

"I"m saying her memory is fine, in fact she is slowly beginning to remember things." Rachey nodded & grinned at her friend. "I'm no longer worried about that. What I am worried about though is more disturbing. I fear Rachey's mind is behind the meltdown of the real and imaginary."

Jack Bauer stood up, walked across to where Rachey was sitting and knelt down in front of her. After looking into her eyes for a minute or so, he spoke, "I now also have the same fear. Her eyes do not lie." Marieke opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Instead she just stood next to Caspian, dumbfounded. She wanted to run to her friend, hold her, tell her it was all going to be ok but.... this revelation was just making it all too real.

Rachey looked up from Jack, her eyes landing on Marieke, "babe, you look like a fish standing there with your mouth open!" she giggled. Caspian and Marieke shared a look and breathed a sigh of relief, it was the first time Rachey had spoken since their arrival. Jack and Jack walked away from the group; the girl whose mind was the trigger, the girl who cares deeply for her friend, the young king from another world and the French policeman from yet another world.

"What do we do now?" asked Marieke when she noticed they'd walked away.

Jack (Harkness) smiled and spoke, "we're just discussing that. My feeling is for you to carry on with you journey. Caspian you will accompany them if you're ok with that?"

Caspian nodded, "and what's the next stop on this journey?"

The other Jack answered this time, "we're going to CTU."


	8. question answer accept

*question – answer - accept*

"We're?" Marieke asked, "are you coming with us then?"

"I am, I need to check things out there anyway. I have a couple of members of my team working on this situation from headquarters."

Rachey's eyes widened in excitement, "Jack?"

"Yes Rach?" he replied, his face buried in a mountain of paper.

"When we get to CTU, what series will it be?" she whispered, clearly afraid that she sounded quite mad. Jack didn't think of himself as a character from a tv show.

He smiled, "I can't answer that." Rachey and Marieke shared a look, disappointment flowing between them. Sensing this he continued, "what I can tell you is; Michelle and Tony just got married, my daughter Kim is working at CTU now and I have a partner called..."

"Chase?!" interrupted Marieke.

Jack laughed, "yes! You know it better than I do! Now, if you don't mind, I must finish what I'm doing before we go. Feel free to have a look around. Just don't disturb anyone; we must complete our latest research."

Marieke turned to Rachey, "I can't believe we're going to CTU! With Jack!"

"I know," Rachey squealed, "and you know who'll be there?" She grinned.

"I had that thought too. But that conversation is best left for when we can't be overheard."

Caspian, who had been listening silently to the girls' excited chatter, whilst also keeping an eye on Javert, spoke, "in that case, let's go for a walk."

The three adventurers stood and headed for the door, leaving Javert alone. Once in the corridor they relaxed, like tension had been lifted.

Caspian sighed, "I hadn't realised there was such an atmosphere in there. Feels so good to be relaxed again."

"That was strange," added Marieke, "I wonder why we hadn't noticed it at the time?" Caspian and Rachey just shook their heads and shrugged. "Come on, let's go find the kitchen. I fancy some tea!" It didn't take them long to find the kitchen, well actually it wasn't really a kitchen. Just a tiny box room, with a kettle, a small fridge and a couple of chairs to sit on.

"You two sit down, I'll make the tea," said Rachey as she checked the water level in the kettle. Once the tea was made and Marieke had explained to Caspian what the beige coloured warm liquid was, talk turned to their last words before leaving the incident room.

"Do you remember back when we were in Borgin and Burkes? And I thought I'd seen Lucius turn into someone else?" Marieke asked Rachey.

"I do remember. I didn't say anything at the time because, well things were a bit hectic at that point but, just as we took the Portkey back here, I also saw Lucius as someone else."

Marieke smiled, "me too! And I think I know who he was."

"Who?"

"Captain Hook!"

"Who's Captain Hook?" asked Caspian who was trying his hardest to understand the conversation between the friends.

"A pirate from Neverland," Rachey answered before turning back to her friend, "of course! Now you've said it, I can picture him again. Yes, it was definitely Hook."

"Hang on," Caspian interrupted, "are you saying there was one man, yet he was two people?"

"Yes. Well I think that's what I'm saying," sighed Marieke. "I don't know, I haven't quite figured it out yet. But it's made me worried about going to CTU because it could happen again."

"It could happen again? How? I thought this Lucius guy was from the world of Harry Potter and the pirate was from Neverland. From what I've heard about CTU, neither of those places are there."

"You're right, they aren't. And I don't think she's worried about Lucius and Hook, I think she's worried about Adam..." Rachey walked over to her friend, "I'm right aren't I? You're worried that Adam will turn into Sylar."

"Sylar?" asked Caspian, "isn't he the man that was at Cair Paravel with us this morning?" Rachey simply nodded, her eyes watching Marieke intently. Waiting for some form of reaction to what was being said.

"It's easy to understand with Lucius and Hook, they're both nasty characters," Marieke finally spoke, but broke off when she sensed Caspian flinch at the word 'characters'. She reached across the table, placed her hand on his and smiled softly. "As I was saying, they're not pleasant so I can almost get my head around it but Adam and Sylar...." she shook her head.

"They're too different," finished Rachey for Caspian's benefit. "Adam is hard working, trustworthy, and intelligent, he works for the government. Sylar? Again intelligent," - Marieke scoffed - "but a murderer, cold, and a liar."

"You forgot heartless," Marieke added.

"Heartless? What about how he was with me earlier? Was he being heartless then?"

"You're letting your heart rule your head hun, don't be blinded by him. See past the outside, see what's inside him."

Rachey shrugged her shoulders, "he's just misunderstood."

Marieke tutted and rolled her eyes, "how many times have I heard that one?"

Caspian, sensing that this could turn into a full blown argument, interrupted the girls, "can I ask, HOW this whole one person, two people thing works?"

"The same actor plays them," Rachey answered, her eyes not leaving Marieke's, "so there's always going to be some similarities between them. But for the most part, they're totally different."

"But how this works when we're actually witnessing the character in action, I don't know," continued Marieke.

"The Jack's will know what to do!" Caspian smiled. "You know, I think I'm beginning to get the hang of all this. Mind you, I still don't know why I'm here. Marieke, didn't Jack ask you to bring me with you?"

"I guess they got too busy to explain," she nodded, eyes still locked with her friend's. "What with Rachey being the cause of all this," she added, venom dripping from every word. Tears welled in Rachey's eyes, Marieke and her had never argued before, she didn't know how to react. Fire blazed from behind Marieke's eyes, the tension in the room was almost unbearable. Unwilling to hear anything else Marieke might have to say, Rachey ran out of the room.

Marieke turned to go after her but Caspian caught hold of her arm, "leave her for now. She just needs to calm down. I've seen this happen a lot, most often with the Queens Susan and Lucy."

"Fine. Let's go find Jack."

They left the room and wandered along the corridor in silence, each too wrapped up in their own thoughts. Caspian was thinking about how strange, yet natural, it was for him to be somewhere other than Narnia. Thinking about Narnia itself and how it was only a story, he was only a story. Wondering what his part would be in this, this new story. Marieke was thinking about Rachey, how unnerving this must all be for her. Wondering how long it would take for them to be on good terms again. Wishing none of this had ever happened. They entered the incident room moments later to find Jack, Jack and Javert in deep conversation.

Jack Bauer looked up as he heard their approach, "ah! There you are. We've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for us? Why didn't you just come get us?" asked Marieke.

"A female needs exactly 7 minutes and 33 seconds to cool down after an argument," Jack Harkness stated, "and by the looks of you, you're due another 56 seconds till you're able to think rationally." He winked at Marieke, causing her stomach to turn a somersault. She counted slowly in her head, concentrating on her breathing. "5...4...3...2...1... now, you're free to speak!" he laughed. Marieke couldn't help but giggle as she felt the tension ease and the fog lift from her mind. "Better?" he asked, smiling slightly. She nodded in reply, enjoying the stillness that surrounded her. "Great, now we can continue."

"Where's Rachey?" Marieke asked.

"She's with Gwen," Jack Bauer replied, "we know what was said between you and right now, that's not important. Right now we need to organise ourselves for our trip to CTU."

"It's not important? Not important? How can you say that? She's my friend and I've let her down."

"You haven't," Jack shook his head, "she understands. And she's fine. We just need her out of the way whilst we discuss the plan."

"You have a plan?" asked Caspian.

"We do. And she can't know about it."

"Why?" Marieke asked, puzzlement etched across her face.

Jack Harkness stepped in at this point, "she has enough going on right now. You need to be strong for the two of you. You can do that right?" She nodded. He continued, "great."

As the 5 sat down and began to organise the next stage in keeping the worlds separate, Rachey and Gwen, who were elsewhere within Torchwood, were also deep in a discussion of their own.

"Can you explain more to me about why I'm the problem?"

"Dear," Gwen smiled reassuringly, "you're not a problem. Not the problem. But yes, I can explain more to you. I don't know how much Jack wants you to know so let's keep this between us for a bit."

Rachey nodded and sat down, "how can my mind cause this breakdown?"

"In simple terms, it's because you believe in fiction so much. You rely on the stories too heavily. You'd rather get lost in one of them than deal with the issues in your life."

"But everyone likes to escape once in a while, don't they?"

"Well yes, they do. Hell I do!" she laughed, "but what you do is different. You believe the places you've read about, seen in films or on tv are real. The characters are real. You've believed for so long your brain cannot differentiate between fiction and reality anymore."

Rachey's eyes widened in horror, "I've done this to myself? I wouldn't. I couldn't. No! You've got it wrong. There must be another explanation."

Gwen placed her hand gently on Rachey's shoulder, "I'm afraid not. Even before you and Marieke turned up here two days ago, the intelligence we'd gathered pointed towards the breakdown being caused by cognitive power. We just didn't know how, why or who. But now we do. And we can help. You believe that don't you? You know we're here to help you?"

Rachey turned to Gwen, her eyes full of tears that slowly trickled down her cheek. Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed heavily, "help me! Please. I'm scared."

"I know you are Rachey, we all are. Marieke especially. But we're going to make this right. I promise." Gwen hugged Rachey tight and wiped her eyes dry. "Come one, let's go find the Jack's and get you on your way to CTU."

When Gwen and Rachey entered the incident room they found only Jack Bauer, Marieke and Caspian still sat at the table.

Marieke, hesitantly, walked across to room to Rachey and threw her arms around her friend. "I'm sorry."

Rachey smiled at her friend, "it's ok. Let's forget it and get this thing sorted. Where's the other Jack?"

"He and Javert had to leave. Some intelligence came in about another breakdown between walls," Jack explained, "they went to check it out."

"Do we have to wait for them before we leave for CTU?"

"No."

"Good, coz I'm ready. I want to get there as soon as we can."

Jack grinned at her enthusiasm, "well no need for us to wait here any longer. Let's go!" Marieke and Rachey grinned broadly at each other.

"How are we getting there?" asked Marieke.

"We will be using the TARDIS today. Until we can link CTU to the train station. Gwen and her team have been working on finding a way of linking all the places you visit to it. There's only so many Portkeys we have access to here and the Doctor will need the TARDIS back at some point!"

Marieke giggled, "you don't want to annoy the Doctor!"

"If you guys have finished chatting for the time being, it's time you were on your way." Gwen interrupted. The followed her out of the door and down the corridor to the hub, where the TARDIS was. Rachey and Marieke grabbed hold of each others hands in excitement.

Caspian stood still, staring at the strange blue box that stood in front of them. "We're going in that? How?"

"Ah, you'll see!" Rachey smiled as Jack unlocked the door. "You'll see!"


	9. crossing worlds

*crossing worlds*

The door opened with a familiar creak. Marieke squealed in excitement and Caspian drew a huge breath.

"What do you think then?" Jack asked Caspian whilst grinning at the girls.

Caspian shook his head, "how? It's so tiny yet it's huge inside. How? I've never seen anything like it before."

"That's fiction for you!" laughed Marieke, "anything is possible."

They walked inside, each looking around, taking it all in. Rachey and Marieke kept giggling and pointing things out to each other. Caspian was just in awe. The lights, the sounds, and the atmosphere – it was nothing he'd ever experienced before. Jack, who had been talking to Gwen, stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He pushed some buttons on the control panel and the TARDIS sprang to life.

"What is that?" Caspian exclaimed as the well known sound rang out.

"That would be us moving," explained Rachey, "you have to see it from outside to understand more." The Narnian King just stared at her blankly. Clearly all this 'new' technology was too much for him. "Caspian, don't think about it, just let it happen," she smiled at him.

"Thirty seconds till we land, brace yourselves, this could get bumpy!" called Jack from the other side of the TARDIS. Everyone grabbed hold of the nearest stationary object and prepared themselves for landing. It was over before they knew it. "We're here."

Jack left the TARDIS first, the others followed close behind, slowly, their bodies getting used to what they'd just been through. Sunshine hit them immediately, Marieke realised they'd landed on the roof, near the helipad. Caspian, who was coping very well with all the new experiences he was having, looked amazed. The L.A. skyline looked impressive against the backdrop of the setting sun to the girls but to Caspian who'd never seen so many tall buildings close together; well he didn't quite know what to think of it all.

"Stay close," Jack spoke over his shoulder as they reached the door. "And no wandering off," he added, looking pointedly at Marieke and Rachey. The girls exchanged a knowing look before following him inside. They walked down various flights of stairs before entering an elevator. Once on the ground level Jack got them cleared for entry. They walked down a long corridor towards large glass doors: the doors to CTU. "We'll go straight up to my office before I gather my team together." He pulled open the door and Rachey was hit with a wave of nausea.

Marieke noticed her friend turn pale, "Jack! I think Rachey's about to faint again." Jack took hold of Rachey and steered her in the direction of an empty chair. "Is she ok?"

"She will be in a minute or so," Jack reassured Marieke, "she just needs to rest for a bit."

"She looks just like she did that night at the feast," Caspian mused.

"I had a feeling this would happen," replied Jack.

"What? How?" asked Marieke.

"Not here," he looked around the room, "we need to get her up to my office. We can talk freely there. Caspian, help me get her up the stairs." Together the two men supported Rachey and coaxed her out of the chair and up the stairs. They laid her down gently on the sofa then Jack, using Rachey's alien pendant, contacted Jack Harkness.

"It's as I thought," he said, turning back to Caspian and Marieke, "the overuse of Rachey's brain is manifesting itself as physical illness. For the time being, we have to let it happen. There is nothing we can do about it. In fact we can use it to our advantage." Marieke opened her mouth in protest but Jack spoke before she had a chance to say what she was thinking. "Hear me out. When Rachey faints, it means her brain is working harder than usual. She's not used to it, so she faints. The reason her brain is working harder at some points in time and not others is because, at that point in time there is another break in the wall between fiction and reality. Jack thinks we can use these fainting spells to stay one step ahead. Plan ahead. Know where we need to go next."

"I understand your theory," Caspian said, "but I don't agree with it. I don't like the idea of you using her illness to gain intelligence."

"If I'm honest, none of us do. But in this job, you do what you have to."

"What do you think Marieke?" asked Caspian. Marieke merely shrugged her shoulders and stared at the floor. "Marieke?"

She looked at Jack, "you do what you have to do. Besides, knowing Rach, she'll find this entertaining."

"Find what entertaining?" mumbled Rachey from the sofa.

"I'll explain later," Jack smiled, "how're you feeling?"

"Tired, my head hurts and I'm hungry. So no different than usual!" laughed Rachey, the colour flooding back to her cheeks.

"Well you look ok to me!" Caspian winked, causing Rachey's cheeks to blush a brighter red.

"Jack, now Rachey's ok, will you please explain to us why we're here?" asked Marieke, sitting down next to her friend.

Jack glanced at Rachey, who nodded, "in a minute. Let me go grab my team off the floor and bring them up here." Everyone nodded in reply before he left the room.

Only minutes later her returned, 3 women and 2 men behind him. Marieke and Rachey looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and grinned when they saw who Jack had in his team.

He spoke, "Rachey, Marieke, I don't need to introduce my team do I?" The girls nodded, smiled then quickly looked at the floor. "Caspian," he nodded towards the young King, "I'd like you to meet the team. Tony, Michelle, Chloe, my daughter Kim and Adam." Caspian looked at Rachey and Marieke, finally understanding the conversation they'd had in the kitchen at Torchwood. Jack spoke again, "everyone sit down. We have a lot to discuss." There was a fair bit of shuffling around, chairs being moved, the table extended before everyone was comfortable.

"Before we get into a long winded discussion about why they've come here," Tony began, "I think you should know that we've discovered another breach in the wall."

"I'm aware of that breach, Jack and Javert had already gone to investigate it before we left Torchwood." Tony nodded and sat down. Jack looked at the travellers and spoke, "as you know, I'm working with Captain Jack in an attempt to stop the worlds becoming one. We now know why this is happening, "he paused and smiled at Rachey, "and between..."

"Hang on," Adam interrupted, "you know why this is happening? Why haven't you told us? We've been working flat out trying to figure that one out."

"I was about to explain that Adam, and I will. Let me finish what I was saying first. As I was saying, between Torchwood and us here at CTU I believe we can end this problem. Now, onto what we know about why the worlds are merging. Rachey, I'd like you to explain this, if that's ok?"

Rachey could feel everyone's eyes on her, waiting for her to speak. Marieke gave her hand a quick squeeze in support. "It's me, "she sighed, "I'm causing this." She stopped and saw the confused looks on the faces of Jack's team. "I've only just found out so bear with me as I try to explain."

And so, she spoke. About all her and Marieke had seen so far, the fainting spells, the clues that led them to each place, the tests that were ran at Torchwood. Tony and Michelle just nodded, keeping professional at all times. Chloe and Adam, the technical minded of the group, listened intently. Kim meanwhile looked shocked, kept glancing at her father, who was watching Rachey closely.

"And you want us to use these fainting spells to our advantage?" Michelle asked Jack, "I don't agree with it." She smiled at Rachey, her eyes full of concern.

"I'm aware that it isn't ideal, Caspian and Marieke have already shared their concerns with me," Jack replied, "but Rachey agrees that it's for the best."

Michelle looked enquiringly at Rachey, "are you sure?" When Rachey nodded, she looked at Jack again, "right, if Rachey agrees, there's nothing I can do about it. But I want it clear that I don't agree with this."

"Noted," Jack smiled, "any other objections?"

It was silent for a while. Then Adam suddenly spoke up. "Yes, actually I do have objections. How do we know Rachey can actually think this through?" He glanced at Rachey and smiled, "no offence Rach, but with those spells... I just don't want to see you get hurt." He locked eyes with Jack, "and I want to know for sure you're not just using her."

Jack's expression barely changed but there was a sudden chill in the air. Kim placed her hand on his arm, "Dad, he's just protecting her. Adam, I'm sure no-one here wants to see Rachey come to harm."

"We have really thought this through," Marieke commented, "and right now, we don't have much choice. We need to find a way to keep ahead of this."

"I know that, "Adam sighed, "but this just doesn't feel good. It's worrying me."

"But why?" Marieke pressed him. Everyone else in the room had fallen silent and was listening to them.

Adam didn't immediately answer the question, "I'm not sure. It feels like..." He looked at Rachey, "it feels as if we've met before, like I know you." Rachey began to open her mouth to speak but Marieke quietly shook her head. Adam didn't fail to notice this. "What is it?"

"We don't know yet," Marieke answered truthfully, but also determined to not say any more.

Adam frowned, "if it has something to do with me, I think I have the right to know."

"If it has, we will let you know," Jack answered, ending the discussion. "Right now our priority is Rachey."

"That I do agree with," Adam smiled.

The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing the plans to use the fainting spells to keep ahead of what was happening. In the end it was decided that Rachey should join Adam and Michelle in one of the conference rooms and try to configure one of the computers to measure Rachey's brainwaves and calculate possible new peaks.

"We may not have alien technology but, we have some of the best programmers in the world," Jack smiled at Marieke when they watched them leave.

Marieke grinned, "I think the term you should be using is geeks. You have some of the world's most geeky people working here!" She said it almost affectionately but her smile soon faded. "Jack, do you think she'll be ok?"

"We're doing the best we can but it's not like anyone has ever handled a situation like this before."

"I know," she sighed, "and what about..."

"Adam? That's for you to tell me. Michelle's there too, so she's safe enough. If it makes you feel better, I'll go check on them."

"I would appreciate that, thank you." She hesitated before speaking again. "If it's ok, can I show Caspian around? He's still looking a bit bewildered." The Narnian King seemed on the verge of retorting, and then thought better of it and simply shrugged, smiling faintly.

"You'll need someone with clearance to show you around I'm afraid. So no wandering off alone."

"I wouldn't, "Marieke spluttered, "or maybe just to... you know, look at stuff."

"We can't. What if you got caught up in one of the stories? It's especially dangerous as you know the outcome." Jack turned to Tony, "can you show them around? And keep them out of trouble?"

"Sure Jack" Tony nodded.

"Oh, that's ok too," Marieke muttered, only loud enough for Caspian to hear. He looked at her questioningly and this time she shrugged, trying to look innocent. Jack glance at her also but appeared to have missed the unspoken exchange between them.

"Right, I'll go check on the others," he spoke before walking out the door.

"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," Tony said.

"Everything?" asked Marieke, wide-eyed with excitement.

"Most of it!" laughed Tony.

Caspian looked mildly interested but Marieke was beaming. Even with all the possible threats, all the things she'd seen, all the things she'd still get to see... it felt as if Christmas had come early! After a moments thought she came back to that. Just in case, she'd rather not land on the North Pole as part of their next adventure!

In conference room B, Michelle carefully linked Rachey up to a laptop whilst Adam was busy starting up a programme and inserting variables. "I know Torchwood have conducted a few preliminary tests on you but, if we want to go through with this, we need to delve deeper," she said as she attached some wired to Rachey's forehead. "We can't have you linked to a computer all the time but once we configure the programme, we can register your brainwaves using a much simpler device. One where we can store the results on a hard-drive till we have access to a computer again." She saw the scared look on Rachey's face and smiled reassuringly,"don't worry, it won't hurt. There's nothing to be scared about."

Ok," Rachey smiled weakly, not reassured at all.

"Done!" Adam pushed some keys and grinned, "told you I could do it."

"Yes, you did," Michelle winked at Rachey. "Let's start the test." The little device linking the electrodes she'd placed on Rachey's head beeped once, then some lights began to flicker. "Are you getting this Adam?"

Adam was looking intently at his computer screen, "yes, the readings are quite clear. Nothing out of the ordinary so far." He looked up for a brief moment, "you ok Rachey?"

She nodded, "I'm fine thanks." Then she blinked, confused she spoke again, "Adam?"

He looked up again, worried, "yes? You sure you're ok?"

Rachey stared at him; then shook her head, "yeah... I'm... I'm fine. I just thought I saw something." Michelle looked at her questioningly and she shook her head again.

"Your brainwaves just spiked," Adam said, his eyes not leaving the screen in front of him. "Rach, what did you see exactly?"

"I though I saw you turn into someone else," she smiled unhappily.

"You saw what?" The confusion was plain to see on his face, "how can that be? I didn't change..."

"We think it may have something to do with overlapping realities," Jack had just walked in and answered the question for her. "It's not yet completely clear how it happens but sometimes, when two characters resemble each other, they switch places in Rachey's world."

"Rachey's world? I like that," Rachey smiled, "I don't know how to explain it either. And you didn't really change; I just saw a glimpse of someone. Maybe I was just imagining it?"

"The results don't lie," said Adam, "but as long as I didn't really change..."

At that moment the door opened again. "Who changed?" asked Marieke when she walked in. She was flushed with excitement about having seen so much of CTU. Caspian had an almost wondering look in his eyes. One glance at Rachey gave Marieke her answer. "Oh no," she sat down next to her friend, "Sylar?"

Rachey just nodded.


	10. multiple personalities

*multiple personalities*

Caspian's face drained of all colour when he turned to look at Adam. He watched him intently for a moment or two before shaking his head and blinking rapidly. "I saw him too, just for a split second." Everyone in room looked at him. Adam appeared to have frozen in time, he wasn't even blinking.

"Adam?" Rachey broke the silence that had engulfed the room, "Adam? Are you ok?"

Now everyone had turned to look at Rachey, mostly because she spoke, though Jack was watching her closely in fear of another fainting spell.

Adam finally looked towards her, his eyes full of fear. He stood up and began to walk towards her.

He wasn't even halfway before Marieke leapt up from her seat. "Don't come any closer Adam!"

"He's not a threat to her Marieke," spoke Tony. Marieke turned to face her friend; there was no need for words. Marieke knew what Rachey wanted and she was just gonna have to let it happen. Tony nodded at Adam as he carried on walking, Marieke locked her gaze on him; ready to intervene at any point.

Adam knelt down in front of Rachey's chair and took her hand in his. "I'm me. Adam. It's just me. No one else but me. You know that don't you?" Rachey nodded in reply, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Adam wiped them away with his sleeve, "hey, don't cry. It's all going to be ok. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Marieke warned, "we have no idea how this is going to turn out."

"I was just trying to reassure her. And whilst you've brought the subject up; what is this?"

At this point Jack joined Marieke, Rachey and Adam. "Rachey really needs to rest right now so we'll go up to my office and I'll explain it. Michelle and Tony, I'd like you both to come as well." Then he turned to his daughter, "Kim, take Rachey down to medical. She'll be able to rest down there."

Rachey opened her mouth to protest but Adam spoke before she could, "go. Please, do as they say. I'll speak to you later." He smiled softly, turned on his heals to walk to the door but changed his mind. "Errm, Rach?" he began nervously as he turned back round, "it will be ok. I don't care what they say about false promises and stuff; I will make sure it's ok." Before walking away again he rested his head against hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Rachey looked stricken, but Kim took her arm and gently guided her to the door.

Before they left the room, Marieke stopped them. "I'm so sorry Rach, but someone has to be sensible." She looked at her friend, "will you be ok?"

Rachey didn't really respond, and after a moment she and Kim walked away.

Marieke turned around and looked at Jack, "right, what do we do?"

They left the conference room and walked side by side towards the stairs that led up to Jack's office.

"We really should concentrate on finding out where the next breach is and figuring out what we need to do to close it. But this new complication, this connection, between Rachey and Adam needs to be sorted. Are you ok with coming to help explain it to the others?"

Marieke looked thoughtful as she spoke, "I'm not sure how much help I can be as I don't really understand it. All I know is Rachey has these 'feelings' for him and to me it looks as though that is clouding everything that has happened here."

"I thought as much," Jack sighed, "she doesn't make it easy does she?"

"She doesn't do it on purpose!" cried Marieke, jumping to her friend's defence.

Jack smiled, "oh no, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't. It's just... well the whole thing is just getting on my nerves now."

"Tell me about it, I'd prefer to deal with conspiracies myself," Tony commented after catching Marieke's last words. "But we don't have much choice."

Adam looked up when he heard the door open, "is she ok?"

Marieke opened her mouth to speak but Jack cut her off, "Adam, you need to be careful when it comes to Rachey."

A look of puzzlement spread across his face, "what do you mean?"

Marieke sighed and sat down opposite him. She looked to Jack for approval; he nodded, so she began to speak. "You have to listen to me carefully Adam. Rachey's fragile, young and dare I say it, infatuated with you."

He looked at her blankly, clearly at a loss. "So? Are you suggesting...?"

"I'm not suggesting anything!" Marieke snapped, losing her temper. She turned away from him and walked to the other side of the room, where Michelle and Tony were stood.

Adam stared at her, a million and one things running through his mind. His eyes flickered over to Jack who was still stood by the door, speaking into a crystal he held in the palm of his hand. He could hear the low whisper of Tony and Michelle talking to Marieke, calming her down, and the hum of the fluorescent lights above him. Yet it all seemed to be in slow motion. He looked back over at Marieke, her expression plain and sighed. An already complicated situation had turned out to be even more complicated than he'd thought. He sighed and stood up; looking around the room again he saw that everyone was staring at him. He began to make his way towards the door but Jack stood in his way.

"Jack." Adam heard how annoyed he sounded, but he didn't care. He was annoyed. He wanted to help, to do something. He couldn't bear this.

"You'll have to stay here Adam."

"But..."

Tony moved a little towards them, but Jack indicated it was ok. "We can't let you leave this room."

"I need to see her," his voice cracked slightly. "I want to hear her thoughts on what Marieke has said. Until I hear it from her, I'll think you're lying."

Marieke glowered at him, "why would I lie to you?"

"Why wouldn't you? "he shot back, "it's been clear that you haven't trusted me one bit since laying eyes on me. You just want to keep me away from Rach!"

"If I don't trust you, then that's because I know you better than you know yourself. I know just who you can be."

"But I'm not! I'm not..." he struggled, and then simply said, "I'm not him."

"No you're not," she amended. "But you can be, and that's enough for me."

Jack had put the crystal away and nodded, "Adam, you know how it works. You're a potential risk."

Adam glowered, but didn't reply.

Before anyone could say anything else, Kim's voice spoke over the intercom. "Dad, are you there?"

Michelle leaned forward and pressed a button on the telephone, "Kim, it's Michelle. You're Dad's here too. What do you need?"

"Rachey wants," she paused for longer than was necessary," she wants to see Adam."

Adam immediately turned to the door again, but Marieke sprang to her feet too.

"You can't!"

Tony came to stand next to her, and cast a reassuring glance, while Jack was still blocking the door. "You're not leaving this room yet, Adam."

"Dad?" Kim's voice again sounded through the room.

"What is it?"

"It's Rachey...she's restless," Kim struggled to find the right words, "she can't stay still." Some muffled sounds in the background were audible and when Kim spoke again she sounded panicked, "Dad, she's having a seizure!"

This time it was Marieke who crossed the room before the others even had the chance to reply. It was like time slowed down. It didn't completely register that when she had reached the door the others in the room still hadn't moved.

Confused, Marieke walked around Jack and tried to push open the door, only to find it wasn't there. Suddenly around her everything was disappearing, swallowed by blackness. Even the floor disappeared from under her feet and she was falling. But before she could panic, she hit the ground. Unlike CTU however it was soft, and mossy. Looking around, she found herself lying in a forest clearing. Her head hurt, and it looked like the trees were dancing around her, but other than that she was fine.

Slowly getting up, she called for her friend, "Rach? Are you there?"


	11. magical moves

*magical moves*

She turned slowly in a circle her eyes searching. There, by the largest elm tree, Rachey was lying face down in the damp grass. Marieke rushed over to her friend, a shiver of panic rushing through her body when she saw how lifeless Rachey looked. She knelt down bedside her and gently turned her over. Rachey's eyes were closed, but she was breathing. Marieke reached inside her pocket and retrieved her communication necklace. She gripped it tightly and spoke clearly, "Captain Jack Harkness – Torchwood."

The crystal glowed brightly and Jack's voice rang out in the forest clearing. "Marieke? Where are you? What happened?"

"I don't know. That's why I contacted you. I was hoping you'd know. You're supposed to be once step ahead of this!"

"I thought we were," Jack paused, "I mean, we are. We had no warning of this. This is the worst breach between the worlds we've recorded."

"Jack, I don't think Rachey's ok."

"What's wrong?" he sounded alarmed.

"She appears to be unconscious," Marieke remembered her first aid training. "Vital functions are stable, but I'm afraid the..." she groped for a word, "transfer has done something to her." When she spoke, Rachey groaned a bit, and slowly raised her hand to her face. For one moment, Marieke was almost sick with relief. "I think she's coming to," she paused, checking on her friend. "But Jack, what if it happens again?"

"She needs to come back to Torchwood for more tests. I know where you're supposed to be going but I can't let you go with Rachey the way she is."

"How am I supposed to get her to you?"

"I'll have to come get you both," he paused. Marieke could hear him speaking to someone else back at base. "Do you know where you are?"

Marieke looked around again at the forest clearing they were in. It looked familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Narnia! We're back in Narnia," Rachey had sat up and was blinking rapidly. "Yes, we're in the Shuddering Woods. The Dancing Lawn to be exact."

Marieke recognized the surroundings now too, and felt a little stupid about not doing so before, "she's right, Jack." There was silence on the other end, and after a pause, she asked: "Jack?"

"Just a moment." Again she heard him speaking to someone, then a weird buzzing noise, and suddenly the connection was gone.

She gripped the necklace and called him name, but there was no reply. Rachey looked up at her, questioningly. "Jack's gone," she explained with a frown. "He is trying to come here, so maybe we should wait."

A sudden loud crack scared the both of them and Marieke sprang to her feet. Right in front of them, Jack had suddenly appeared, looking a bit worse for the wear, but otherwise unharmed.

"Did you," Rachey began, "wait, did you just apparate?" Marieke looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm being serious, that cracking sound. It's the same."

Jack suppressed a giggle, "I did! George Weasley has been teaching me."

"Wicked! I wanna learn!" Marieke again shot Rachey a look & slowly shook her head.

Then turning back to Jack, "well, she seems perfectly normal right now. Or as normal as Rachey ever gets!" She laughed for the first time since Rachey's episode at CTU.

Rachey pretended to look outraged, but didn't quite succeed. Instead she started giggling too, "I do really want to learn, you know."

"I know!" Marieke grinned at her. "I do too!"

"Well, maybe when we have time to spare..." Jack half-promised. "For now, will you settle for sidelong apparation?"

"Of course!" They shouted in unison.

"I should warn you, I'm not very good at it."

"As long as I don't get splinched, I'm happy! I'm in enough pain as it is."

"Of course you are. I'm sorry. I need to get you to Torchwood."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Marieke, a smile still etched on her face.

"Peter and Edmund." Marieke looked at him quizzically. Jack spoke again, "where will Peter and Edmund be?"

Marieke shook her head, "I don't know. They could be anywhere. Time moves differently in Narnia. You'll have to look for them. Cair Paravel is the most likely place I'm guessing. As long as it's not in ruins again."

"I'll make sure you won't get splinched," Jack grinned. "But wait here for a while; I'll go get Peter and Edmund. The way things are now, you are in no condition to walk that far."

Rachey protested, but they both knew Jack was right. So instead they told him in great detail where to go, pointing out directions and describing landmarks. There was some discussions over the route, though. Whether it be easier to just follow the course of the Great River east, or manoeuvre around the forest, cross the plains, pass the stone table and then follow the Rush River until it joined the Great River. In the end, it was decided that following the Great River would be easiest, even if it would be the long way around.

Jack left them with food and water and the promise to be back as soon as possible. Soon as he was out of earshot though still in sight, Rachey and Marieke looked at each other and burst into giggles.

"Captain Jack Harkness navigating Narnia? That is just too brilliant." Marieke felt tears running down her cheeks.

Suddenly Rachey sobered. "What happened to Caspian?!" she demanded.

Marieke looked blankly at her, "I don't know..."

Rachey stood up and looked around at their surroundings again. Just in case they'd somehow missed Caspian earlier. She knew it was pointless; they'd been in the clearing for at least two hours already. If Caspian was nearby he'd have let them know already. Unless... No! She didn't want to think that. Caspian was the King of Narnia. It'd take a lot more that a break between worlds to kill him. Not even his uncle Miraz had succeeded all those years ago.

She sat back down and sighed. "He's ok. He has to be. He's Caspian!"

Marieke laughed at her logic. "Yeah. He was with me when the break happened. Jack Bauer will be looking after him. For all we know, he's back at Torchwood waiting for news from us."

"Should we try contacting CTU then?"

"No. Let's wait for Jack to get back with Peter and Edmund; then we'll ask him. If he was worried, he'd have mentioned it to us before he left."

"I wonder why Jack wants Peter and Edmund," Rachey mused after a moment of silence.

"I'm sure he has some ulterior motive," Marieke grinned, "but I've no idea what it is!

They talked for a while, and had a bite to eat, but slowly it became darker and Jack hadn't returned yet. Neither of them knew how long it would take exactly, so all they could do was sit there and wait. They moved deeper into the forest, in hope of finding some form of shelter to spare them from the bitterly cold wind that was now creeping its way around them. It was hard to see, the thick canopy of branches above was blocking out most of the moonlight.

Marieke squinted into the night. "There, that tree is almost hollow. Let's rest in there."

They made their way to the tree, which was still close enough to the clearing for them to be able to hear Jack when he returned. It wasn't very comfortable, but at least it was sheltered and relatively warm.

"Do you think we need to worry about wild animals?" Marieke suddenly asked.

"Depends on when we're here, I guess," Rachey answered with a hint of doubt.

As if that was a cue, they suddenly heard some twigs snap on the other side of the tree. The girls grabbed hold of each other, their eyes wide in fear.

"What do we do?" whispered Marieke.

Rachey remembered something Lucy Pevensie said in the film adaptation of Prince Caspian. "Dying here. Dying there." she muttered under her breath.

Marieke frowned at her, "don't talk about dying please."

"Sorry. I was thinking out loud." The sound of more twigs snapping in the darkness caused them the freeze. Still holding on tightly to each other they moved further into the hollow.

"Marieke? Rachey?" The voice was barely more than a whisper, and it took a moment before it registered with the girls. They looked at each other, still worried. Then Marieke slowly untangled herself and made to move to opening.

"No, don't!" Rachey whispered.

Marieke turned around to her. "Don't worry," she said, barely audible. "I've an idea."

Staying close to the ground, she crept out of tree. But before she could follow through with any sort of plan, she almost collided with another person. She bit back a scream when two strong arms closed around her. Then she recognized her captor and she felt faint with relief. "Caspian!"

Rachey peered out of the hollow and saw Caspian, his arms wrapped round Marieke who was clinging onto him for dear life. "I am so glad to see you!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

Caspian prised Marieke's arms off him and caught Rachey in an embrace, "and I, you. What happened to you both? One minute you were at CTU and then you'd gone."

The girls sat down and explained what had happened as Caspian made a fire to keep them warm.

"I'd almost forgotten how handy it is to have a Narnian king around," Marieke laughed, warming herself by the fire. "This will make the waiting a lot easier."

It was nearly 2am by the time Jack Harkness reached Cair Paravel. It was huge, exactly as the girls had described it to them. What he didn't know though was where the Kings would be at this time of night. He guessed they hadn't expected him to take so long!

He wandered around for a while, thinking. There must be some way of reaching the Kings. Of course he'd rather not be seen, the less people knew about the breaks between worlds, or even that there was other worlds, the better. He turned a corner and found himself in a courtyard, a large fountain dominating the space. But he wasn't alone.


End file.
